


The Lost Son

by julilihatfun



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: (but only in one or two chapters!), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is Jason Todd's Parent, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Jason Todd, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd is Not Robin, Jason-centric, Kid Jason Todd, Protective Batfamily (DCU), Protective Bruce Wayne, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 44,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24342532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julilihatfun/pseuds/julilihatfun
Summary: In which Bruce is in for one big surprise when a little boy bursts into his office one afternoon, claiming to be his son.orIn a series of unfortunate events, Jason stumbles into the Batfamily's lifes at the age of nine, annoying the hell out of Damian while simultaniously wrapping everyone else around his little finger with his charms and -tragic backstory!
Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Batfamily Members & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Comments: 524
Kudos: 1464





	1. Um... Surprise?

**Author's Note:**

> Will update every week if nothing goes wrong! I just desperately want to write this, haha - this has been done before (much better) but I decided to have some fun with it :)
> 
> (Also my native language is German, so please keep that in mind if a spelling mistake seems particularly shocking)

„Mr. Wayne, there is some kid here – says he wants to speak to you.”

Bruce furrowed his brows, because… well, because that was just odd. He paused for a moment, before pressing the red button on his office phone setup, that connected him to his secretaries’ desk. “Is it one of _my_ kids?”, he asked, trying not to let the amusement seep to deep into his voice.

There was an awkward cough on the line. “No.” He could already imagine the guy manning his front desk clutching his headset closer to his face in exasperation.

Bruce sighed, looking over at the sky-high pile of documents on the side of his desk in disgust. “What does he want?”

Some shuffling could be heard, paired with distant, unintelligible chatter, then: “He says, that the matter is between himself and you.” Bruce could clearly hear the annoyance now. He looked towards his office door thoughtfully, then let his gaze wander back to the offending pile of papers. He sighed deeply.

“Let him in, Andy.”

He fixed his tie with one hand while quickly closing the folder lying in front of him with the other. Not a second later, the door opened and his secretary, non-too-gently, pushed a boy into his office. Bruce stood. “Thank you.”, he said, nodding to Andy, who immediately vanished, closing the door behind him.

Bruce let his eyes roam over the child then – he was a tiny kid, really, and he was clearly trying to make up for that with the defiant scowl on his face. He looked way too serious for a little boy, but his posture betrayed his nervousness. His hands were buried deeply into the front pocket of his enormous, red hoodie, that had definitely seen better days – Bruce guessed, that it was one wash away from falling apart completely. His jeans also seemed to be way to big, making him looking even more bizarre – they were, like the hoodie, dirty and littered with holes and tears. The boys face was obviously unwashed too, and his black hair was a mess of wild curls, falling over his forehead and nearly obscuring his eyes. Clearly a child from crime alley and definitely not someone Bruce usually hosted in his office.

The kid seemed to be mustering him as well and Bruce noticed, that neither of them had moved yet. “Hello.”, he said, interrupting the strange silence.

The boy nodded in his direction, muttering something under his breath. Bruce could see him shake.

“Well, sit down, then. Want something to drink? Maybe a snack?”

The kid moved over to the chair Bruce had gestured to and eyed the jug of sparkling water on his desk in suspicion. “No, thanks.”, he bit out, climbing onto he armchair with some difficulty – it one made the next thing he said more hilarious. “I’m here strictly for business.”

Bruce tried to mask his chuckle with a cough, but the boy’s eyes narrowed even further, so he probably did not succeed. “Alright.”, he said, sitting back down as well, letting his office chair down a bit, so he was not towering over his guest so much. “I’m all ears. Want to tell me your name first?”

The boy seemed taken aback. “Jason.”, he mumbled, avoiding Bruce’s eyes.

“Okay, Jason.”, Bruce nodded – he would just give the child a few minutes for whatever he wanted and then return to his work. Honestly, he had seen situations way weirder than this. “So? What can I do for you?”

The kid looked at him for a moment, before swallowing thickly and averting his gaze again. “I-“, he began shakily, before swallowing again. “I think you knew my mum.”, he said then, almost accusingly.

“Oh?”

“Yeah!”, Jason snapped. “Catherine.” He said the name slowly, looking at him expectantly, like he had just revealed a big secret.

Bruce awkwardly cleared his throat in the stifling silence. “Sorry kid, I-“

“Todd!”, Jason interrupted him, a bit hysterically. “But it was Johnson before.”

Bruce felt sorry enough for the boy to doubt himself for a second, but he knew with absolute certainty, that he had never met a Catherine Todd- or Johnson before. “I really don’t know her. I’m sorry.”

This was clearly an answer that took Jason by surprise – although Bruce was not really sure _what_ he had expected in the first place.

“No, you must.”, the boy said desperately. “She said!”

“Listen, Jason…”

“You listen!” The kid was obviously agitated now, rising from his chair and pointing a finger at Bruce. “I’m gonna help spur your memory, asshole.”, he yelled. “About ten years ago? Remember her now?”

Bruce shook his head, slowly, and Jason’s face fell. “I’ll give ya a hint.”, he snarled, gesturing at himself. “Nine years old!”

“No.”, Bruce said, shaking his head slowly. “I think this is a misunderstanding.”

“My mums not a liar!”, the boy yelled, his face getting red. He was trembling all over.

“I’m sure she isn’t.”, Bruce said carefully, standing up slowly and moving to walk over to Jason. He stopped when the kid took a startled step back. “I’m just saying-“

“Well, if she ain’t a liar it means you are!”, Jason bristled. “You owe her money – big time!”

“So this is what it is about.”, Bruce sighed. “Did your mother send you here?”

“Why, you accusing us of somethin’?” Jason looked tense all over; almost like he was ready to fight him. It would be really cute, were the situation not so serious.

“No. Did she?” Bruce tried moving towards Jason more slowly now.

The kid took another step back before crossing his arms. “She’s dead.”, he mumbled then, voice breaking.

“I’m sorry, Jason.”, Bruce said carefully. It was awful and he still did not have any idea what he was expected to do. “What about your dad?”

“How stupid are you?!”, Jason exploded yet again. “I just told you that-“

“So you want to come live with me?”, Bruce asked slowly, because maybe that was the poor kids objective. It was public knowledge that he had already adopted two boys. Jason did seem desperate, and Bruce could probably help him find a proper family or something like that.

Jason recoiled. “Hell no!”, he exclaimed with total conviction. “I need’ya to pay for her grave an’ all.”, he added in a much lower voice. “I can’t and… I think that whole church shit meant lots t’her.”

“She died recently?”, Bruce asked softly, finally getting close enough to the kid to put a hand on his bony shoulder. Jason flinched slightly, but did not pull away.

“Nah, like a year ago but they wanna dig her back up unless someone pays the fees an’ shit.”, Jason mumbled, aggressively wiping his eyes with his hoodie-sleeve.

Bruce watched him with a frown. “What about you?”

Jason shrugged.

“Who is taking care of you now?”

Another shrug.

“Did you and your mom live alone?”

The kids face scrunched up slightly. “Willis was around – bolted like 2 years ago, though. Probably for the best, honestly.”

“Willis is your dad then?”

Jason glared at him and even managed to look slightly menacing.

Bruce sighed heavily. “Jason, I’m not lying to you, I promise. I did not know your mom – I don’t know why she told you what she told you. This normally just happens when someone wants money.”

Jason teared up then, looking absolutely miserable. “Oh no. She did lie to me, then?”, he whispered brokenly to himself. Then, he looked up, meeting Bruce’s wide eyes. “A- Apologies Mr. Wayne. Didn’t mean to take up your time with this shit. Or try ‘n scam you.”

The kid ducked out from under his hand then and bolted for the door.

“Wait.”

Jason stopped abruptly, turning around slowly and unsurely and for a short, terrifying moment, Bruce really did see a startling resemblance between the boy and himself. It took a second to recover from that, before he could speak again. “I will pay. For everything you need me to.”

“Why?”, Jason asked, in the same broken voice, that kind of broke Bruce’s heart.

“I just want to.”, he said evenly. “But I need you to do something for me as well.”

“I…”, Jason glanced at the door. “I’m just a kid man. I don’t even know how’ta-“

“Oh!”, Bruce exclaimed in horror at what Jason was suggesting. “No! Nonono!! Nothing like that, of course. I just want you to be save – have a family.”

“You want me to go to a foster home.”, Jason said. “I tried that already. Didn’t really work for me.”

“I want you off the streets.”

Jason sighed, like it was an excruciatingly painful thought. “Fine I’ll- if you pay then… yeah.”

“Good.”, Bruce said, smiling encouragingly at Jason. Work will have to wait some more – he did not feel particularly sorry about that. “Come on, then. Sit back down, I just need to make some calls.”


	2. A brand new home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could not wait a whole week to post a new chapter, so there you have it hah - I'm still trying to grasp on to the concept of slow burn, even if the tags pretty much gave me away already :D Hope you guys like it!

Bruce had only just began hammering into the keyboard of his computer, when Jason spoke up again. “You really think that a foster home could be better than the streets?”

Bruce stiffened, because what hell would a nine-year-old have to go through, to ask that kind of question?

“I promise, that we will find something really nice.”

“Really?”, Jason asked, sceptically. “How can you be so sure?”

Bruce stopped typing then and looked up at the kid. He somehow managed to look even more tiny in Bruce’s big office-chair and was fiddling with the strings of his hoodie. He frowned. “I just am.”

Jason’s face scrunched up. “That’s such a grown-up thing t’say.”, he muttered, and Bruce could not help but let out an amused snort.

“You deserve a real home and I know that we will find the perfect one. I told you: I want you to be safe and I will try everything in my power to ensure that you are.” Bruce was not sure why, but there was something about this boy – something different, almost. He could not really put his finger on it, but while he wanted to help every child out on the streets of the city, Jason made him feel like just handing him over to a social worker was not enough. It was like a terrifying, primal instinct that made him want to protect the kid with everything he had.

“You will?”

“I have three boys, Jason.”, he started, moving to turn around the family picture he had on his desk. “My youngest is just a year older than you are – his name is Damian. He’s the one on the left. You remind me of him.”

“Touching.”, Jason frowned at the smallest boy in the picture. Bruce had his hand on his shoulder, standing behind him and smiling fondly. An older guy was standing next to Bruce and two boys were on either side of them, grinning widely. They were all dressed in suits and looked like a really happy family. It made Jason feel kind of sick. “They all adopted?”

Bruce smiled. Jason obviously knew something about his family. “Only my two eldest.”

“’S a nice picture.”, Jason said, eventually, giving Bruce a fleeting look.

Bruce’s smile got wider and he looked down at the picture himself for a moment, thinking, for a very small moment, that Jason might fit in incredibly well into the family. But it was not really an option. Not when Damian was only just settling in and starting to trust everyone more – it would probably not go over well. His smile fell a little; he looked back up at Jason. “I was just telling you because… because I want you understand, that I know how important family is. And how important it is to me, to find you one.”

It should be no trouble to get Jason adopted, really. He was still young and immensely adorable. Bruce himself would ensure, that Jason would end up somewhere good.

“You- will you promise? That they’ll be nice?”, Jason spoke up then, voice very small and unsure again.

“Of course.”, Bruce said, without missing a beat.

“Would you…” Jason hesitated for a moment, before raising a small, bony hand. “Pinky swear?”

Bruce chuckled. “Sure, kid.”, he said lightly, but steeled his impression into a very serious one before reaching out with his hand, to show Jason that it was no joke to him. The boys face looked equally serious and they linked their pinkies, but he seemed to relax a bit.

Even Jason’s finger felt entirely too small in his and he sighed in defeat. “Alright kid, how about I make a quick call and you go up front and make Andy order you something to eat?”

Jason frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Huh?”

“What, you’re not hungry?”

“Well yeah, but I ain’t rich man.”, the kid scoffed. “Don’t got that kinda money.”

It was Bruce’s turn to frown then. “I’m paying.”

“Why?”

“I want to.”, Bruce sighed, and Jason still looked immensely suspicious.

“You’re like… super weird.”, the kid frowned eventually. “I can make him get me whatever I want?”

Bruce gave a small smirk. “Yeah kiddo, sure.”

Jason’s face actually _lit up_ , then. “Sweet! Thanks Mr. Wayne!”, he grinned, before bolting out the door, letting it slam against the outside wall, before running up to Andy with a resounding: “YO! Front desk dude!”, before the door fell shut again.

Bruce looked after him for a long moment, still smiling and wishing desperately for Damian be able to act this much his age one day – if a traumatized street-kid still could, his son would get there too, eventually, right?

“Mr. Wayne, can I order you something as well? The little terror wants a burger with fries.”, Andy’s voice came over their private line again and Bruce snapped out of his thoughts, having not even picked up his phone to make the call.

“Oh, uh, yes. Thank you, Andy. Just get me the same thing you’re getting him.”, he said. “Send him back in if you’re finished ordering, please.”

“Gladly.”, Andy snorted.

Bruce finally picked his phone up then, scrolling down to Leslies number. His office door flew open again then, and Jason ran back in. He stopped short when he made eye contact with Bruce and slowed down significantly. Bruce nodded at him. “Entertain yourself for a minute bud.”, he said. “I need to make that phone call now.”

Jason looked unsure for a moment. “When will they come to get me?”, he asked then, voice small and hesitant.

Bruce let’ his phone sink back down, having to fight against that weird, animalistic instinct, that made him just want to wrap the boy in his arms, again. “I’m calling a friend first – she knows the in and outs of the system. She will know what the best course of action will be.”, he explained. “But… you won’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable, alright?”

“Yeah…”, Jason murmured. “Alright.”

Bruce watched him stare at the bookcase in the corner of his office intently and tried to force a carefree smile. “You can look at the books.”

Jason jumped a little, but nodded determinedly. He walked over to the shelf slowly, but quickly seemed to lose himself in the many different covers.

Bruce finally deemed it safe enough to dial Leslies number. She picked up almost instantly. “Bruce.”, her voice rang through the speaker.

“Leslie, I need a favour.”, Bruce said in a low voice.

He heard a sigh. “You don’t sound like you’re in the middle of a medical emergency.”

“No, everyone’s fine. I have a kid in my office.”

“Bruce.”, Leslie groaned. “Again?!”

“Hey! It’s not like that!”, he snapped. “There was… a misunderstanding. He ended up here.”

Another sigh. “What do you need?”

“Both parents gone.”, Bruce whispered carefully, keeping an eye on Jason. “I need him off the streets today.”

There was silence on the line for a long moment, before Leslie let out a loud breath. She immediately knew that Bruce did not only want a temporary solution, but something unbureaucratic with minimal exposure to stress, for the child – he would not have called her otherwise. “I will see what I can do. There might be an opening at a really great foster family. I’m free right now, so I can make some calls and report back later.”

“Thank you, Leslie, you’re the best.”

The phone call ended abruptly and Bruce chuckled, not the least bit surprised. Jason stood in front of the bookcase, running careful fingers over one of the books that was on his level.

“You can take one, if it interests you.”, Bruce said, deliberately soft.

Jason’s hand jerked back anyways and he whirled around. “Sorry.”, he said. “I was just looking.”

“You’re good, kid.”, Bruce sighed in defeat. “You like books?”

Jason perked up a bit. “You kidding?! Books are the best!”, he exclaimed with clear excitement.

Bruce smiled encouragingly. “Yeah.”, he agreed. “They’re pretty great.”

He watched Jason thoughtfully for a second. “What school do you go to?”

Jason looked put out again and averted Bruce’s eyes.

“You’re… not going to school?” It was not really a question at this point, but Bruce really hoped, that he was wrong.

“Nah.”, Jason scoffed. “No one wants to see street rats in their school.”

The way he spat the words ‘ _street rats_ ’ suggested, that they’ve been thrown at him more than once.

“You want to go back to school?”, Bruce asked, even if it was not really Jason’s choice to make – he _would_ go back as soon as possible.

“Yeah!”, Jason said. “That would be amazing!”

Bruce gave him a pained smile, already planning on having a meeting with everyone working in the Social Department – they really needed sort those things out. He really did not like the thought of kids like Jason, roaming the streets without any access to education or food or even water. How had he not realized the extent of the problem before? “Then you will do exactly that.”, Bruce said pointedly.

There was an awkward kind of silence, before Jason pointed at the family picture that was still facing him. “Is that guy your dad?”, he asked, pointing at Alfred.

“No.”, Bruce told him. “He’s our butler.”

Jason snorted. “Man.”, he groaned. “Rich people are so strange.”

The kid paused, staring at the picture almost longingly, before he swallowed thickly. He quickly shoved the picture back to Bruce then, before reaching into his jeans pocket and pulling up a worn card deck. “Wanna play Black Jack? Victor and the others showed me. I think they usually play for money or somethin’, but I think that’s dumb, ‘specially because Oscar lost his house with stuff like that! But that’s not the game’s fault, right? I think it’s dope!”

Bruce head span with Jason’s nervous, joyful chatter that almost seemed to come out of nowhere. He looked from the deck of cards to Jason’s grin, finally giving up the idea of getting any work done that day. “Yeah, let’s play. Better get ready to lose!”

“You wish, old man!”

Bruce was in the middle of being completely and utterly destroyed in Black Jack by Jason (who was a tiny nine-year-old, so what the hell?!), when there was a knock on the door, before Andy opened it, to plates of food in his hands.

Jason perked up immediately. “Yes!”, he said, jumping up to snatch one of the plates out of his secretaries’ hand. Andy gave Bruce a pointed look, but did not say anything. He put the other plate down in front of Bruce and then filled up two glasses of water from the jug on Bruce’s desk.

“Thank you, Andy.”, Bruce said.

“Mr. Bruce.”, the man nodded, turning to Jason with a cheeky. “Eat up, you little shit – you look like you need it.”

Jason scowled for a second, before a grin broke through his façade. “Are you body shaming me, man? Wow, real low!”

Andy threw his hands up in frustration, but grinned lightly too, before exiting the office.

Bruce watched Jason, already shovelling fries into his mouth, with a mixture of fond- and sadness. “Just for the record: I was in the middle of winning the game.”

“Hah!”, Jason exclaimed, mouth full of food, that he quickly swallowed. “You wish! You totally suck at Black Jack, and you know it!”

Jason scarfed down another couple of fries, before adding: “I should tell Oscar to play some games with you – he would win his house back and everything!”

Bruce huffed out a startled laugh. “Yeah.”, he agreed, mentally adding a program for gambling addicts on the list of things he needed his team at WE to get their hands on. “Probably.”

They were both already finished with their meal, when Bruce’s phone rang.

“Leslie.”, he said. “You found something?”

“Yeah. The family I told you about it out of spaces, but there just opened up something this morning. Don’t know them personally, but they have a good reputation.”

Bruce watched Jason mix his cards in absolute concentration and frowned. “Other options?”

“This is the best I’ve got.”, Leslie told him, impatiently. “A social worker would pick him up within the hour.”

Jason swore softly when he dropped the majority of the deck, cards flying everywhere. Bruce wanted to just… take him in on the spot. But he felt like he needed to give the kid a fighting chance, away from the chaos the manor had erupted into, since Damian joined the family. Jason needed attention and calm and someone who knew how to really be a parent.

“Yes.”, he finally said. “Thank you, Leslie. Appreciate it. Just-“

“Send you all the files I have on the family? Done.”

“Right.”, Bruce agreed. “Later, Doc.”

“Bye, Bruce. Try to stay out of trouble.”

Bruce ended the call before reaching under his desk numbly, picking up a few up Jason’s cards and handing them over to the kid.

“Thanks.”, Jason said, obviously trying to hide his nervousness. “So?”

“She… There is a great foster family that agreed to take you in from today on.”

“Oh.”, Jason nodded, eyes blank. “I… guess that’s good?”

“Really good.”, Bruce agreed, even if he had a weird feeling in his gut.

“And you will pay for mums- mum’s things?”

Bruce nodded seriously. “Will you write down her full name and birthdate for me? I will sort out the paperwork first and be in contact with your social worker, so that you can help choose and organize everything else.”

Jason smiled brightly. “That’s real’ nice of you.”, he said, before tearing up slightly. “And… And you really promise that I’ll be fine with the new family?”

“Yes.”, Bruce said, trying to reassure not only Jason, but also himself. “I do.”

And when the social worker showed up to take Jason away; when he had to watch the tiny boy trudge after her with slumped shoulders, casting him a last, pleading look over his shoulder, Bruce let his face fall into his hands, letting out a shuddering sigh.


	3. Raindrops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Look at me just not caring about the updating-schedule I set myself - but in a kinda positive way!! I am so grateful for all the lovely comments I have received. You guys are just the best :)

Bruce could not stop thinking about the little boy that had burst into his office nearly a week ago. He had been in contact with Jason’s social worker, but the woman insisted that they had to give the kid at least a week to settle in before Bruce could contact him. Bruce had already handled everything surrounding the fees for the grave and was anxiously waiting for the moment he could meet up with Jason to discuss everything else.

He just really hoped that the boy was well. And it drove him mad that his safety was out of his control. He tried to talk himself down from his own craziness because logically speaking, Bruce knew that the kid was not his responsibility and that he had done all that he could do for Jason. But it still did not feel right. He had no idea how the boy had wormed his way into Bruce’s heart in just one afternoon. And said heart really _ached_ for the child that had been dealt such bad cards at life.

The feeling was especially bad that night. The manor was busy as always, but Bruce could not quite focus on anything. He pushed the rice on his plate around listlessly and watched Damian do the same across from him. Tim and Dick were paying them no mind and chattering away happily, holding up a steady stream of banter. Rain was pounding onto the windows behind him in a way that made him seriously dread patrol. Dishes were cluttering around him and Alfred was doing something in the adjoining kitchen. He stood up abruptly, not being able to take it anymore.

“B?”, Dick asked, rather suddenly and he shook his head. His son had been suspicious the past couple of days, when Bruce had come home from the office one evening even more broody and stressed than usual. But when he could not explain his feelings to himself, he was pretty sure that he could not voice them out loud without sounding stupid. Besides, Dick and his other children did not need to worry about those kinds of things.

“I need to make a phone call.”, he growled, already moving out of the door.

“Right.”, he heard his eldest behind him. Spending time with his children was incredibly important to him and he hated having interrupting their dinner like this. He knew though, that he would manage to make up for that somehow later, and right now, he could really only focus on checking up on Jason. His chest felt tight and it felt really ridiculous to go this crazy about a kid that was probably having the best week in years right now – Jason did not need Bruce worrying so much about him. But Bruce did.

So he dialled the number of the social worker, Ms. Mang, pressing the phone to his face with a frown. It was late – definitely past standard office hours. But then again, he had been given the woman’s private number, so he might as well use it if he had a bad feeling, right? It would probably just go like the other conversations they had – she would tell him not to worry and that Jason was settling in well and then she would end the call in clear exasperation.

It rang a few times before she picked up, sounding more frazzled than usual. “Mr. Wayne, now it a really bad time.”, she hurried to say.

Bruce frowned. “I know it’s late, but I just wanted to-“

“I’m sorry, but I can’t right now.”

And suddenly, Bruce knew exactly where his nervousness stemmed from: something was wrong. Something had happened to Jason or maybe one of the other children she was responsible for and he felt his heartrate go up.

“What’s wrong?”, he snapped, daring the poor woman to not tell him.

She sighed. “We don’t know what happened,”, she started, a bit too carefully. There was an excruciatingly long pause. “Jason ran away a couple of hours ago – we’ve been doing everything in our power, but… we have not been able to find him yet.”

Bruce closed his eyes in the silence that followed – the heavy rain drumming against the windows was the only thing he heard besides the roaring in his ears. Hours ago. And he had not even known – had just assumed that the kid was safe and that his worry was without cause. “What happened?”, he asked after having taken a deep breath to try and calm himself down a bit.

“We’re trying to figure that out right now.”, Mr. Mang said, voice rough and Bruce knew that they were at a dead end. He knew that Batman had way better chances at finding a boy that obviously did not want to be found.

“Keep me posted.”, he growled, feeling his stomach twist, before hanging up abruptly. He knew that the woman was probably not at all responsible, but he kind of felt a bit irritated, because he had been kept from Jason for nearly a week while something bad was clearly going on.

He let his phone slide back into his pocket and clenched his fists, feeling incredibly foolish for ever feeling like he had done enough for the kid. He had not expected Jason to bolt before they had sorted out everything surrounding his mothers grave, so he felt entirely blindsided by this.

He strode back into the dining room, ignoring his sons questioning looks and went through the double door into the big kitchen where he knew Alfred was.

“Master Bruce.”, the man greeted him with furrowed brows.

“Alfred.”, he choked out. “Jason ran. Hours ago.” He felt like he could not produce enough air to say more.

“Oh dear.”, Alfred said, because he understood, of course. Bruce had obviously told _him_ about the nine-year-old that had come to him, believing that he was his son, stealing Bruce’s heart in the process.

Bruce eyed the butler grimly. “I’m heading out early.”, he growled. “I have to find him.”

“Of course.”, Alfred nodded, not looking happy at all. And Bruce turned on his heel, already striding to the cave in big steps. Then, all of a sudden, Dick appeared in front of him.

“What the hell is going on?”, his son asked, clearly agitated and he could see Tim and Damian watching them warily in the background.

“Dick.”, he snapped. “Not now.”

He could see that Dick was gearing up to say something, but he stopped in his tracks, startling his eldest. “I’m heading out now. Nightwing, Red Robin and Robin can join at the regular time. I’m leaving you in charge of everything patrol related, Dick.”

“Wha- Bruce!”, Dick said, clearly confused and angry. “You have been acting odd all week and we demand to know why!”, Damian piped up and Bruce sighed in defeat.

“Master Bruce.”, Alfred spoke up behind him. “Might I just say that four pairs of eyes do see more than one?”

“That’s very true!”, Tim spoke up from where he still sat at the table, while both Dick and Damian have stood up in their frustration and anger. And he knew that it was plausible. His boys would be a great help and the important thing was finding Jason as soon as possible. He could probably tell them everything else when the crisis was averted, right? Because he already knew, that they would – at least temporarily – gain another family member as soon as they found the kid – there was just no way that Bruce would trust another stranger with Jason anytime soon.

Bruce sighed heavily, closing his eyes in exasperation. “Alright, boys-“, he starting, intending to quickly brief his sons on the situation at hand, when someone pounded on the front door.

Everyone startled, because that usually did not happen. Cass was out of the city with Stephanie and everyone else would have alerted the security systems. It meant trouble and this was just the kind of thing that Bruce needed less- and not more of at the moment.

“Stand back.”, he hissed, giving everyone in the room a pointed look. This really was the last thing he needed right now and he swore to himself as he stomped over to the door. Whichever thug had found it to be wise to just show up here was in for a lot of trouble – especially with how angry he was right then.

He reached the wide wooden door and threw it open forcefully, honestly expecting to be faced with some dump, low-threat-criminal.

But that was not it at all.

“Jason?!” He sounded shocked, but the anger he had felt a moment before was still evident in his voice. Then, he let himself relax a bit in order to not startle the boy, visibly deflating. “Oh, thank god.”

When the first moment of surprise subsided, the appearance of the kid slammed into him with worrying force. Jason was soaked to the bone, the familiar red hoodie clinging to his small body and his hair plastered to his face – but it did nothing to hide the dark bruise around the boys left eye. Bruce’s face twisted in fury.

Jason let out a miserable sob, hugging himself and shivering all over. “S- sorry.”, he whimpered and Bruce shook his head, sinking down on one knee in front of him.

The kid was obviously shaken up and hurt and Bruce felt his worry skyrocket again. “Jason, it’s alright.”, he said carefully, reaching out to the boy. “Come here.”

Jason closed his eyes in resignation, but did take a step towards Bruce, who reached to touch the boy’s cheek. Jason flinched hard and gasped in pain a moment after and Bruce wanted to punch whoever did this. He needed to pull himself together in order to not freak the kid out further though.

“What hurts?”, he asked, willing his voice to resemble a calmness he did not feel at all.

Jason stared at the ground, before murmuring a quiet: “Ribs.”

Bruce had to inhale long and slow. “Show me.”

The kids brows furrowed, but he did not move otherwise, so Bruce decided that he could just pick and address another one of the multitude of issues at hand if Jason did not want Bruce to see right now.

“You must be freezing.”, he said softly. Jason nodded lightly, before locking eyes with Bruce, for the first time.

“You lied to me.”, he whispered, sounding sad instead of accusatory. “You said they’d be nice… You _promised_ …” He broke off then with a loud sob and Bruce felt like crying himself.

“Oh.”, Alfred’s voice came from behind him. “Not the ideal weather for a walk, wouldn’t you agree young Sir?”

Jason let out a gasp, that sounded like a mix between a startled laugh and another sob and Bruce felt entirely too glad for not having to deal with this himself. He stood up from his half-crouch and led Jason further into the room with a careful hand on his shoulder before closing the door behind them, the noise making Jason look back in a slight panic.

“Call Ms. Mang.”, Bruce ground out. “Tell her that they can stop looking. Tell her that Jason is here and that I won’t return him into their incapable hands.” ‘ _Tell her to sue the whole family for child abuse_ ’ he did not say in front of Jason, but he would look into that one later.

“Very well.”, Alfred said. “Might I suggest seeing to the young Sir having a warm bath and a change of clothes in the meantime?”

“Yes.”, Bruce agreed, trying to pull himself out of his thoughts. He did not have to turn around to see that the rest of his family had already disobeyed his orders too.

“Tim.”, he said evenly, without taking his eyes off of Jason. “Could you please start running a bath.”

“Sure.” Tim sounded confused, but Bruce could hear him turning on his heels to prepare the downstairs bathroom.

“I’ll get something from Dami’s closet to change into.”, Dick announced, sounding just as unsure.

“I refuse to lend clothes to some brat.”, Damian scowled and Jason flinched slightly.

Bruce mentally prepared himself for an argument, but Dick just bounced off with a resounding: “Too bad lil’ bro! I’m going to get your favourite sweater just for that!”

“Stop it, Grayson!”, his son screeched, but his voice seemed to move further away, indicating that he was following Dick to his room. Bruce sighed, turning his full attention back to Jason.

“Let’s get you warm, huh?”, Bruce said, trying for a soothing voice with medium success.

Jason was still crying silently and Bruce felt himself grimace slightly. “I won’t let anything happen to you here, alright champ?”, he told the shaking kid in front of him. “You’re safe here.”

“You s-said that before.”, Jason sniffled. And Bruce _knew_ that. He had failed the kid and was positive that he would never be trusted by him again… but then again: Jason _came_ to him. Bruce did not know how the boy found him or how he managed to get to his front door without triggering any alarms, but he actually _sought out_ Bruce. That had to mean, that there was still some trust left – he just had to build on that.

“I did.”, Bruce agreed solemnly. “I thought I was right, and I am so sorry, that I wasn’t”

He reached forward to pull Jason into a hug, but stopped himself halfway. “Would you like to stay here until we figure everything out?”, he asked instead and Jason’s eyes found his for the second time.

“I could?”, he asked, voice wavering and eyes tearing up again.

“Of course.”, Bruce nodded.

“Just…” Jason hesitated.

“Yeah?”, Bruce said encouragingly, and the corners of the kids mouth twitched treacherously.

“Won’t be safe here until you upgrade your lame security system, old guy.”, he said then, serious, but with a watery grin that was just a bit too tearful and Bruce huffed out a startled laugh before he could stop himself.

“You’ll have to tell me how you managed that later.”, he said, right when both Tim and Alfred returned.

“Ms. Mang is gives her deepest apologies and promised to have everything sorted right away.”, the butler spoke. “She agreed that it would probably be best to let Jason stay here until further notice, seeing as he came here willingly.”

“Thank you, Alfred.”, Bruce sighed. Glad that the woman saw it like he did. And that he was still registered as a foster parent in the system. Besides that, he would not have accepted it any other way – Jason would stay here, where Bruce _knew_ that no one could hurt him. Like he would with any other child, coming to him in obvious peril!

“Bath is ready too.”, Tim said in a small, unsure voice when the silence became to pressing and Bruce smiled at him.

“Great, Tim. Thank you.” He turned to Jason. “I want Alfred to take a look at your eye and ribs, would that be alright?”

Jason tensed and looked over to Alfred, studying the man before deflating slightly. “Yeah, it’s whatever.”, he mumbled. And that was enough trust for the time being. Bruce could work with that. 


	4. First Family Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo Jason is kind of getting settled in! There is not really happening much in this chapter, but I guess it needed to be written, hah! Thank you guys again for all the lovely comments!!! :) Hope you enjoy this!

Bruce watched as Alfred led Jason out of the room with a gentle hand on the kids back and sighed. Then, his eyes found Tim’s.

“You-“ He paused. “You’re probably wondering what’s going on.” It was uncomfortable, but he needed to explain himself somehow. His children were definitely confused because, hell, Bruce himself had no real idea what was going on – life was already complicated enough a week ago, but now it seemed like everything was in complete chaos.

“You somehow managed to knock up another woman without realizing?” Tim’s voice sounded dry and joking and Bruce’s breath left him for a short moment.

“No!”, he said with absolute conviction, but Tim just stared at him, looking immensely doubtful. “Bruce.”, he said carefully, like he was crazy. “He looks like a miniature version of you. Kind of.” Tim looked a bit unsure, which was a bit reassuring for Bruce. He had seen the similarities too, but he saw those in Tim and Dick as well, so that did not really mean anything. And still… Jason was a sweet kid that did look and act a surprising lot like Bruce himself did, but Bruce _knew_ the women he had slept with by heart – even if some reporters doubted that – and he had never even met someone named Catherine. He almost wished he _had_. But the fact that Jason was not his biological kid would not stop him from being there for the him like he was until they could figure something else out.

He had thought about taking Jason in permanently himself, but that seemed nearly impossible with Damian being as possessive and aggressive as he was. But then again, having the responsibility of being a big brother might be what his youngest child needed… It was all just very confusing.

“Sorry. I… You wanted to tell me what’s going on here?”, Tim said, hesitantly, when Bruce was silent for a while.

“No Tim, you’re- I have to apologize to all of you. Jason – that’s his name – came to my office a few days ago and… and I helped him get placed in a foster family…”, he started telling his middle child, before pausing awkwardly again. He knew that he was rambling, but he was really bad at this kind of thing. Besides that, he already put way too much on his son’s shoulders and had to be careful with what he shared. Tim sometimes seemed like a smaller version of an adult to him – all mature and well-spoken; way too smart for his own good. Bruce often ended up telling him too much because of that – telling him things that were not meant to be worried over by fourteen-year-olds. He definitely wanted to do better in that area, so he decided to not go into full detail. “He needed money for something important and I promised to help, but he needed to get settled with the family before I could do anything and not knowing how he’s doing made me… pretty nervous.”, he continued, frowning slightly.

“Guess the family was not that great after all.”, Tim mused, copying Bruce’s frown. “But yeah Bruce, that’s not vague at all.”

Bruce gave his kid a painful smile. “It was a bit vague, huh?”

Tim sighed, but seemed to be okay with not finding out everything – it probably was not a priority for him. Maybe he just knew that Bruce would eventually cave and just tell him everything anyways. “Fine. Don’t tell me everything. Not like I won’t find out sooner or later.”, he said, grinning slightly, and confirming Bruce’s suspicions. “He seems really young – he’s what? Seven or eight?”

“Nine.”

“He’s tiny then!”, Dicks voice came from somewhere behind Bruce. “That’s super adorable! We’re keeping him, right?!”

“We’re most certainly not!”, Damian screeched and when Bruce turned around, he saw his youngest boy trying to wrangle some pieces of clothing out of his big brothers’ arms while Dick was grinning wildly.

“Guys.”, Bruce sighed. “Dami, Jason might has to stay for a little while – at least until we figure something else out.”, he addressed his son carefully, knowing that this was dangerous territory. But he also knew, that Damian had a good heart deep down, and that his son could be incredible when someone needed help – he just needed his boy to understand; get through the anger. “I just need you to lend him some clothes today – we will figure out something else tomorrow, alright? I don’t think he has anything to change into. Would you please do that for me?”

“Yes! We’re definitely keeping him then!”, Dick cheered, while Damian scowled up at him.

“I will allow him to wear them today.”, his youngest eventually declared, still looking very unhappy with the situation at hand. “But only if he is out of the house as soon as possible!”

Bruce sighed heavily, but he knew that Damian was not being difficult on purpose. The kid was still not quite used to living at the manor and the thought of another stranger suddenly invading his space was probably incredibly threatening to him. But he knew that his was as close to acceptance as he could get Damian right now – he just had to try everything to make Damian as comfortable as possible in the coming weeks. “Thank you, Damian.”, he said, smiling at his son. “Dick, can you please give the clothes to Alfred? He’s already in the bathroom with Jason.”

“Sure B!”, Dick exclaimed enthusiastically and bounced off into the direction of the bathroom.

“Knock before going in!”, Bruce called after him, not wanting him to scare Jason, and Dick howled out something that he could not really understand. But he guessed that it was an affirmative.

“We’re still going on patrol, right?”, Tim asked hesitantly and Bruce considered him for a moment. They could not just… not go. And he still did not want Damian going out without him, even if the kid insisted that he was fine with just ‘ _Grayson as his watchdog_ ’.

“Yes.”, Bruce said slowly. “We will start in about one and a half hours.” That would give him enough time to talk to Jason and make sure that Alfred gets some food into the kid. Jason might even be asleep by the time they would go down to the cave – he did look pretty exhausted – and if he could get Tim to take over comm-duty for the night, Alfred would still be in the manor in case the boy needed anything. It could definitely work.

Damian still seemed pretty mad and it did not get any better when Dick came prancing back into the room: “So this is why you’ve been a total weirdo all week? Really B? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve adopted a kid, so no reason to be nervous!”

“No one is getting adopted!”, Damian immediately snapped and Dick turned to him with big puppy-dog-eyes. “Aw, Dami! You would be such a good big brother!”

“Stop it, Grayson.”

“Boys.”, Bruce sighed. “No one is getting adopted, Dick. Stop provoking your little brother.”

“Totally believe you Mr. _Way to quick to get attached_.”, Dick snorted at the same time Damian huffed out a quiet “We’re _not_ brothers!”

Bruce closed his eyes for a second, just to ground himself, before opening them again. “We should get back to dinner. You boys need energy for patrol.”, he said then, just to bring back some normalcy.

“Yeah…”, Dick drawled, a bit put out. “I mean it probably _will_ be cold already but… yeah.”

“Might have to go against Alfred’s no-microwaving-rule.”, Bruce chuckled in tone that was clearly too forced to really sound genuine, but he shrugged it off and ushered his children back into the dining room with Damian complaining about the dangers that microwaves apparently were the entire way there _and_ then the entirety of the time their meals were in there. It did not seem to faze Dick and Tim, because they dug in with the usual enthusiasm and Bruce watched them fondly. They were good kids, all of them.

He dug into his own meal; his appetite having come back with a vengeance now that he was sure that Jason was safe. He listened to the chatter of his boys around him – Damian was still scowling, but he did participate some in the conversation of his older brothers, to Bruce counted that as a win.

They all looked up from their nearly-empty plates when Alfred ushered Jason back into the room. The kid was swimming in Damian’s black hoodie and the grey sweatpants that Bruce was pretty sure Damian had never worn before. There was a bright blue blanket draped around his shoulders and despite it all, he still seemed to be shivering a bit. The discolouring around his eye seemed even more prominent in the bright light of the dining room and his damp hair was curling wildly around his ears. He was clutching the blanket tightly and seemed to be leaning into Alfred lightly.

Bruce smiled at him in what he hoped was an encouraging way. “Jason.”, he greeted the boy. “You look more comfortable.” The kid did not exactly look _comfortable_ , but better than he did when he stumbled in from the rain earlier – it was a first.

“Yeah.”, Jason mumbled, looking down at his feet in embarrassment when he noticed that all eyes were on him. “Thanks.”

“Hi, I’m Dick!”, his eldest piped up and Jason’s gaze snapped up, eyeing him in confusion.

“You’re a what?”, he asked, clearly unsure, tucking his blanket tighter around himself, and Dick chuckled. “Stands for Richard; you know, like a nickname! We should totally give you one too!”

Jason frowned. “Like… will mine be a swearword too?” He looked at Bruce for a second before narrowing his eyes in challenge. “I know lot’sa them!”

Dick looked delighted, like Jason had just said the funniest thing ever. “We can make that happen!”, he exclaimed, before catching Alfred’s disappointed stare. “Or… you know… settle for something more appropriate?”

“That’s cool…” Jason hesitated slightly. “Dick!” And coming from Jason, it kind of did not sound like an old, harmless nickname at all.

“My name’s Tim.”, his second eldest cut in, smiling encouragingly at Jason for a second, before moving his gaze to Damian, clearly waiting for him to introduce himself too. He did not, but he also did not really have to, because Jason suddenly spoke up: “Hey, you must be Damian! There was a picture of you in Mr. Wayne’s office – you look just as angry as you did there!” Jason sounded too excited to have meant it as an insult, but Damian still narrowed his eyes dangerously. “I’m Jason! But, you know, might be getting a cool, insulting nickname soon! D’ya have one of ‘em too?!”

Damian’s face darkened even further, and he still refused to say a word directly to Jason. Dick on the other hand looked frighteningly amused and he pulled out the chair next to him. “Don’t mind him Jay, he just needs time!”, he explained, when Jason seemed slightly disappointed at Damian’s lack of response. Bruce thought that the kid may have been most drawn to Damian as he was just a little boy, like he was – probably the most predictable in his eyes. Someone he shared interest with – and Bruce kind of hoped that the two could be that person for each other.

For now, Jason climbed onto the chair that was offered to him, wincing slightly when he jostled his rips, but seeming otherwise content. Bruce frowned at the kid’s exclamation of pain and he saw Dick do the same. Then he looked at Alfred, but the man did not seem to worried, so it was probably nothing too dangerous. Definitely something that shoulder never happen to a child, but it probably could have been a lot worse.

“Master Jason, would stir-fry be a suitable meal for you?”, Alfred spoke up when Jason was settled at the table. “It was Master Damian’s request for tonight’s dinner, so I would just need to reheat it.”

Jason seemed startled at being addressed that formally, and Bruce watched him lean over to Dick with a confused look. “Does he mean me?”, he whispered, loud enough that the whole table heard him. Dick chuckled again and nodded. “Yeah, he just talks like that.”, he said in an equally low tone. Jason mumbled a ‘thanks’ and sat up straight again. “Sounds… good?”, he hesitantly answered. “Dunno what that is, but… it’s food right?”

“You will like it.”, Bruce assured him with a smile. “Thank you, Alfred.”

And Jason definitely liked it, because he shovelled everything in with his spoon in record time, not really slowing down when Bruce asked him to – he was glad that Alfred had dished out a smaller portion, because the boy would definitely make himself sick otherwise. “It’s delicious!”, he said through a full mouth when he was halfway through his meal and Damian’s face twisted in disgust, but he thankfully did not comment, and neither did anyone else. Jason seemed _desperate_ for food, and it was painful to watch. Bruce wondered when the kid last had a full meal – he really hoped, that it was not when he visited him in his office.

“I’m glad you enjoy it, young Master Jason.”, Alfred eventually said – he looked worried too, because no one should be this hungry ever. The butler hesitated for a moment. “I would consider myself a fairly good chef, so please do tell me whenever you wish to eat something – I would very much enjoy to cook anything you want.”

That make Jason pause, spoon balancing halfway between the plate and his mouth. “Huh?” He let the spoon sink down into the small pile of rice and veggies that was still on the plate. “What? Anytime?”, he asked in wonder. “And you’d just… make it?”

Alfred nodded solemnly. “Gladly.”

“Man, this place is _weird_!”, Jason declared, before shoving his spoon into the food again. And it was disturbing, because it spoke volumes about the boy’s former life, that he considered being able to eat whenever he was hungry as ‘weird’.

There was a pressing kind of silence after that, that Jason did not really noticed because he was too focused on eating. “You full?”, Dick asked in a very motherly tone once the plate was cleared, and Bruce felt the corners of his mouth twitch into a slight smile.

Jason nodded, thanking Alfred again and was about to open his mouth again, clearly meaning to ask Tim something, when Bruce decided that it was time to talk to the kid alone. There were some things he still needed to sort out and he _really_ wanted to ask Jason some things. “So, kiddo, want to see where you’re going to sleep?”, he asked lightly, but Jason still narrowed his eyes at him. Bruce sighed. “You’re probably tired, yeah?”

“Yeah…”, Jason said, hesitantly, gaze flickering from Bruce to Alfred. “Okay.”

He stood slowly, like he was expecting something terrible to happen, and Bruce tried to smile light-heartedly, holding his hand out to Jason. He did not take it, but he did follow Bruce up the stairs and into the guest room that was across from Bruce’s own bedroom.

“It’s big.”, he commented once Bruce had opened the door.

“Yes.”

“No, I mean _really_ big! Like, we lived in apartments half this size!” He seemed in awe and Bruce smiled sadly. “It’s a bit bland right now, but we can decorate it however you want.”, he said and Jason turned to look at him.

“So, I’m really not going back? To… you know-“

“No!”, Bruce said harshly, making Jason flinch slightly. “I mean; no. You’re staying here for now – if that’s alright with you?”

The kid looked at him calculatingly before sighing loudly. “I… think I’d like that. Better, I mean – y’know: in comparison to other places.”

“Yes.”, Bruce agreed. “Me too.” And he really meant it. “Jason, would you like to talk about what happened?”

Jason swallowed hard, before shaking his head.

“That’s alright.”, Bruce said.

They were silent for a while. “Mrs. Mang will have to come by in the next couple of days.”, Bruce eventually said. “She might want to ask you some questions and-”

The kids head snapped up in panic. “And take me where?”, he asked, breathing getting a lot faster than before. “You just said-“

“No one is taking you anywhere!”, Bruce said quickly, curling his left hand into a tight fist to keep himself calm. “It’s just… standard procedures. Nothing to worry about.”

Jason still seemed incredibly doubtful, but his body relaxed slightly. He moved to sit down on the large bed and stared at the floor. “Hey, Mr. Wayne?”

“You can call me Bruce, kid.”

A heavy sigh. “Jeez, alright, _Bruce_.”

“Hm?”

“Your house is like… _super_ creepy.”


	5. A Startling Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, somehow managed to be right on my weekly schedule - this chapter was a bit harder to write, because I feel like it contains a key moment! I somehow managed though and I hope you enjoy!!!

Bruce woke up the next day when the sun was already up and his joints were still aching fiercely from patrol the night before. It really did seem like the city never slept – at least not the criminals of the city; and there sure were plenty of those. It had gotten easier though, now that he did not have to do everything by himself – he had people helping him out now; sharing the burden with him. The only bad thing that came with those particular teammates was, that they were all incredibly important to him, which meant that he had to worry about them. Constantly.

He was so tired that he almost forgot, for a second, that one of his worries resolved itself the previous night – spectacularly so even, with a soaking wet, beaten kid showing up on his doorstep. Him not being worried anymore did not mean that everything was suddenly alright, though –the worry he had felt for Jason before had abruptly turned into a breath-taking amount of guilt and regret and it all came with the added bonus of having a fourth boy living in the mansion. That part of the situation, however, felt right – like Jason was always meant to be there.

And boy, did the morning confirm that feeling – Bruce’s family had never felt more complete than when he got downstairs, seeing everyone but Alfred, who Bruce assumed was already preparing lunch in the kitchen, gathered around in the living room. Cass had apparently gotten back from her mission early, because she was lounging in the enormous grey chair by the fireplace, watching the boys that were huddling around the coffee-table in great interest. It seemed like Dick, Tim, Damian and Jason had also only recently woken up, if he could take the way their hair was sticking up wildly into different directions as any indication for that. Point was: they were all here and they seemed comfortable and relaxed – even Damian, who sat on the large sofa, watching Jason hand Tim a stack of cards with only a slight frown.

“Morning.”, he grunted, because it seemed like no one had noticed him yet. Their heads turned and Dick gave him a broad grin.

“Mornin’ B!”, Tim and Dick said and while Damian continued frowning determinedly, Bruce could see Jason perk up. Now that Bruce had gotten closer, he could see the cards strewn around the table messily and felt the corners of his mouth twitch into a smile. It seemed like this was Jason’s go-to ice-breaker and his sons seemed to enjoy it.

“Morning, boys. Cass. Everything go okay?”

Cass nodded in greeting, holding up the thumb of her left hand while sipping coffee out of the cup that Tim had given her last Christmas. They would have to talk about everything in more detail later, when he was more alert and, more importantly, when Jason was not there to overhear. Jason did not need to know about everything surrounding Batman just yet – the kid had enough on his plate anyways, and while Bruce knew that it was a difficult secret to keep from someone living in the same house as him, he desperately wanted to protect at least one person from that kind of lifestyle for as long as possible. For now, he was content not having to worry for a short moment – just watching his family bond. And, of course, marvelling at how well Jason seemed to fit in.

“So, what are you guys doing?”, he asked then, gesturing to the mess of cards on the large, wooden coffee-table.

“Jay’s teaching us how to play!”, Dick announced excitedly. “And he promised to teach me how to shuffle the cards like the pros do it!”

“He says we’re already much better at this than you are.”, Tim added, grinning up at him slyly and Bruce had to hide an amused grin himself, scoffing in mock-hurt instead.

“I could’ve won.”, he grumbled, looking at Jason, who’s face had grown a slight shade of pink with all the attention focused on him. He shuffled a few cards around in his hands nervously, but he did not look nearly as uneasy as he did the evening before. He grinned at the kid and Jason’s face lit up too.

“Ha! In your dreams!”, he giggled, before finally meeting Bruce’s eyes, like he had something very important to say. “Have you seen these cards, Mr. Wayne?! I accidentally left mine at the other place so Alfred dug those up f’me! Aren’t they totally amazing? Brand new and everythin’!”

“I told you to call me Bruce.”, he answered lightly. “But yes, they are really cool.” He did not even know, that they owned card sets, but he was glad, that they did.

Jason looked slightly embarrassed for a second, like he wanted to apologize, but he just continued babbling animatedly instead: “Damian’s a natural! Won the first round even – it’s like- y’know! You sure you’re related?”

Bruce was trying to figure out how to ask whether Damian _really_ played cards with everyone without sounding to hopeful, when his youngest voice cut into his thoughts venomously: “Are you accusing me of something, Todd?”

Jason looked alarmed and Bruce saw Tim slump down slightly in exasperation. “What? No!”, Jason hurried to explain. “I was jus’-“ He stopped, looking frazzled and obviously distressed. Cass grimaced slightly, obviously already sensing where this was heading.

“It’s fine, Jay.”, Dick sighed, moving a bit closer to the kid and ruffling his hair, making it stick up even more. “Dami’s just in a _mood_.”

“No, I’m sorry.”, Jason mumbled, ducking out from under Dick’s hand to face Damian who sat on the sofa behind him and Dick. “’t was just a joke! I didn’ mean to upset ya.”

“I’m not upset.”, Damian spat and Bruce winced in poorly hidden frustration. “I just don’t appreciate street children bursting in here, trying to pretend they’re part of this household.”

“No one’s pretending anything!”, Tim cut in, obviously gearing up for a full-fledged dispute, when Bruce decided to finally step in as well.

“Boys, stop it.”, he sighed, watching Jason flinch and then try to make himself even smaller than he already was. This had escalated quickly – for a second, Bruce had thought that everything might work out just fine. But, of course, nothing was ever that easy – and there was no one to blame for that one, really. He decided to try and fix Jason’s growing distress first: “Hey, buddy. You did nothing wrong, alright? Now, why don’t you take Cass, Dick and Tim and take a look around, hm?”

He saw Dick nodding, getting to not-so-subtle hint and standing up slowly. “Yes! C’mon Jay, I totally have to show you everything!”, he said, just a little bit too enthusiastic and Jason turned to him, wide eyed.

“Yeah.”, he said, shakily. “Okay.”

Cass stood up as well, placing her mug on the side table by her armchair. “There is a lot too see.”, she agreed. “Might be here a while, so it would be useful to get to know everything.”, Tim chimed in, probably just to spite Damian, who was still looking furious.

“Uh-huh.”, Jason said quietly, pushing himself up. Then he seemed to try and press himself as close to Dick as humanly possible, which would be nice, if it would not be because Jason was scared. Dick smiled at him sadly, putting his arm around the kid’s shoulders and gently pushing him towards the door with Tim and Cass on their heels.

Bruce heard the beginning of a mumbled: “I really didn’t mean to-“, before the door fell shut and he was alone with his youngest son.

“That was uncalled for, Damian.”, he sighed. “He was just joking.”

“Was he?”, Damian snapped. “I’ve spoken to Pennyworth and he told me everything!”

Bruce sighed heavily, because Damian was already trying to find a problem where there was none. But if Alfred told Damian that Jason had originally thought, that he was is biological son, Bruce could see where his child’s concern lay. “I’m not hiding anything from you boys.”, he said carefully.

“No.”, Damian growled. “He is!”

“Huh?”, Bruce asked, because now, he had no idea where this was headed. “Damian, what are you talking about?”

“I’m saying that the woman you are wasting money on has no relation to Jason Todd.”, Damian said, furiously jumping off the sofa. “There is no Catherine Todd! Not in any of his documents and especially not on his birth-certificate. I have not figured out what kind of scam he is running yet, but-“

“What?”, Bruce got out breathlessly, confused at this strange turn of events.

Damian got even angrier at being interrupted. “He lied about who his mother is and I say he is probably lying about everything else too! I did not want to bring the matter up until I had more evidence, but father, this is clearly fraud!”

Bruce was momentarily stunned. It did not sound like Damian was making any of this up, but Jason sure as hell also seemed to very much believe that Catherine Todd was his mom. “He is only nine years old.”, he said in a low voice, hoping to calm Damian down a bit. This had to be a mistake, because he just knew that Jason was not lying about anything he had told Bruce.

Damian was not backing down. “So? I’m ten!”, he screeched dangerously. “I say we ask him about his real mother right away – if we corner him, he might tell!”

Bruce shook his head. “We’re not cornering anyone, Damian. I don’t know what you found, but I can promise you that-“

“Dr. Sheila Haywood!”, Damian shouted in raw anger. “She is deeply involved with the Jokers goons and she is also his legitimate mother.”

Bruce could practically feel the blood drain out of his face. “Sheila?”, he ground out brokenly, taking a shaky step backwards. Contrary to the name Catherine, this one immediately rang a bell – he knew the woman, he had been with the woman and most importantly: he had last seen her about ten years ago. The room suddenly seemed to be entirely too hot.

He saw Damian smirk in self-righteousness, convinced that he had just proven to his father that a nine-year-old kid was somehow out to get them. “Sheila Haywood.”, he confirmed without a trace of insecurity. “So am I correct in my assumption that-“

“Show me.”, Bruce chocked out, because it was slowly dawning on him that Jason might have been correct after all – he just had no idea what exactly happened between last seeing Sheila and having a kid burst into his office, claiming to be _Catherine Todd’s_ and his son.

“Of course.”, Damian agreed, but he seemed to grow slightly uncomfortable now. He did not ask Bruce any further questions, but the man knew that he wanted to. And Bruce was glad about that, because he really did not want to answer any questions right then.

He just wanted certainty.


	6. Filled With Anger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just after midnight in my country and I really just be studying Chemistry right now, but I finished this chapter instead HAHA - I hope you all enjoy! All the comments mean a lot to me and are really motivational!! :)   
> I still have a lot of plans with this story, so I don't know how many chapters it will be yet, but there is still a bit to come!

Bruce had been staring at the computer screen for what felt like hours by now – the words never changed, of course, but he could feel like heart-rate rise with every passing second.

Damian was standing by his side, watching him carefully, after having shown his father the results of his extensive research smugly. It was hard to believe. He had never even given the possibility of actually being Jason’s dad a second thought after having dismissed it so confidently only minutes after meeting the kid. Now, he felt like an idiot for not considering that there might be some truth in the boy’s statement – it was not every day that someone strolled into his office, claiming to be his biological son.

And as he was carefully tracing every letter of Sheila Haywood’s name on Jason’s birth certificate with his eyes, as if to make absolutely sure that this was really happening, the knowledge that Jason’s claim may very well be true slammed into him like a truck.

He had no idea how Jason came to grow up with Catherine Todd and how Catherine came to the conclusion that he was the father of the kid and all the unanswered questions drove him insane already. Also, there was the fact that Sheila was apparently involved with some of Gotham’s criminals, according to what Damian had apparently found out about her, and Bruce would have to look more deeply into that.

“Well?”, Damian’s voice startled him out of his inner turmoil and he unglued his gaze from the screen to face his son, whose smug look had turned slightly more confused while he was busy soaking up everything on the birth certificate in front of him. “What will you do about this?”

“I need to call Leslie.”, Bruce muttered. “Do a DNA-test.”

“What for?”, Damian scoffed. “We already know he lied about his true parentage.”

And, right. Him and his son were on two totally different pages right now. Bruce sighed, because where should he even start to explain all of this to his ten-year-old, who already had formed a strong aversion towards Jason – even without having been exposed to the full threat he would definitely see Jason as once he found out that he might not be Bruce’s only biological child.

“No, Dami-“, Bruce started carefully, deciding to just dive straight in. “I am talking about a paternity test.” It was risky, just throwing out this bold of a statement, but he knew that it was better than keeping things from Damian by far – the kid took great pride in being included.

Damian paused, just staring at him for a couple of seconds. “Why would you do that?”, he asked then, sounding unsure, because he was not following and Bruce knew how much his son hated feeling like he did not know something other people did.

“You- Damian, you said Alfred told you why Jason first came to see me at work?”

A moment of heavy silence as they stared at each other and finally, Bruce could see the exact moment Damian had worked out what he was implying. He shook his head slowly, then more forcefully. “No.”, he said, firmly, voice cracking slightly. “Father, you cannot seriously believe… You have got to see that that woman and her horrid spawn are trying to trick you.”

Bruce sighed again, putting his hand on Damian’s shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring manner – he knew that this was hard on the boy in an entirely different way than it was hard for him. And he was trying to stay calm. Not only for Damian’s sake but also for his own – he could not allow himself to hope before he had definite proof for his suspicions and focussing on Damian was much easier than actually dealing with the things surrounding Jason. Especially easier than letting himself belief that he was the boy’s actual dad and then having to deal with the fallout if that should not be the case.

“Thank you for looking out for everyone.”, Bruce told his son earnestly. “This is pretty thorough research you did there, but Dami… I am one hundred percent sure that Jason beliefs Catherine Todd to be his real mom. He does not know the things you do.”

Damian scoffed, eyes shining brightly with anger mixed into other emotions. “How dare you even…”, Damian started, before shaking his head and taking a deep breath, face contorting in anger. “Forget it, we’re done here. Get me when the brat starts to show his true colours.”

He turned, but Bruce grabbed him by the elbow before he could leave. “Don’t tell Jason.”, he said, evenly. “I need you to be at least courteous and not say a word about all of this until we know more.”

Damian’s expression turned even darker and he scoffed again after swallowing heavily. “Fine.”, he spat, yanking his arm out of Bruce’s grip. “Have it your way.”

Bruce nodded. “Thanks.”, he said, watching Damian carefully. “I know this might be difficult, but it will all be alright, okay?”

There was a huffed breath in response and the tense straightening of small shoulders, before Damian turned and stormed out the room without another word, leaving Bruce alone in the big, quiet office, the bright screen with the still open document burning into his back offensively.

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting everything – all of the emotions and difficult decisions that lay ahead of him – just kind wash over him, before opening them again and pulling his phone out of his pocket with a shaking hand and pressing it to his ear after having numbly selected a contact. He needed to be practical and dispassionate for now, just to protect himself.

“Leslie.”, he breathed when there was a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

“I heard what happened with the boy.”, he heard her say, voice tight and displaying the kind of emotion he currently wanted to block out. “Bruce, I’m so sorry – no one had any reason to believe… They were immediately pulled, of course, and the dad confessed to everything.”, she rattled on. “He will obviously face charges, and-“

“Good.”, Bruce interrupted, feeling his anger at the foster family that was supposed to keep Jason safe surge up for a moment, before forcing it down. “But I’m calling for a different reason.”

He paused shortly, but Leslie was silent on the other end. “You know that he is here, right?” A low murmur of agreement. “He’s hurt and evidently malnourished and I doubt that he had a check-up in the past couple of years.”, he rambled. “Could you please take a look at him?”

“Yes.”, Leslie breathed out. “Sure, Bruce.”

“Thank you.”, Bruce said. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uhm, you also doing paternity tests at the clinic? Something came up and I just-“

“Oh god, not again.”

He could hear her mutter something about billionaires collecting children, before sighing heavily. “Alright. I can come over after I’ve finished up in the clinic – let’s say… 5 or 6 hours?”

“Thank you.”, Bruce said, feeling incredibly lightheaded now that everything is starting to feel more real with Leslie involved and everything.

He put the phone back into his pocket after ending the call, his hand still shaking. Being emotionally reserved on a topic like this was, he came to realize then, nearly impossible – he wanted Jason to be his kid and it would be a disappointment is he wasn’t. It was just something he would have to face. Bruce closed the open pages on the computer before turning it off entirely – the had not had breakfast yet, he realized, but he also was not really hungry anymore; he started into the direction of the kitchen anyways, hoping to find Alfred there, ideally alone.

-

“Oh dear.”, Alfred said dryly, half an hour later, when Bruce was finished telling him the what had happened, summing up exactly how he felt. “What a turn of events.”

Bruce nodded, nibbling on the piece of paprika he had fished out of the big, wooden salad bowl – Alfred had not commented but his frown had told Bruce that the butler was not thrilled about it. “The poor, poor child.”, Alfred added, thoughtfully. And Jason was, because what gave Bruce the exciting possibility of being the kids real dad after all took away Jason’s mom, in a way.

“How do you even tell a kid something like that?”, he asked after swallowing down the last piece of the paprika-slice, dropping down on one of the barstools heavily. Alfred pointedly pushed the salad bowl away from him and watched him rub his forehead in mental- and physical exhaustion.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way, Master Bruce.”, Alfred said thoughtfully, not being helpful at all, but in his own incredibly helpful way. “I had planned to take the young sir clothes-shopping after lunch, but I find myself overwhelmed with work.”, he added while chopping a carrot into even pieces. “Maybe you would find the time to take over? Bond with the boy? It may just make everything a bit easier for the both of you later on.”

Bruce took a deep breath. “What if he’s not mine, Alf?”, Bruce found himself asking then, because it was a fear that had steadily developed in the past hour and he was not naïve enough to believe that not having any expectations would save him from the heartbreak he would suffer should the test come back negative.

That made the butler look up. “Well, do you think that would really matter, Master Bruce?”

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows. He knew that he did not love Damian any more than his other children just because he was his, but with Jason, he just felt like a positive paternity test would explain why he was so drawn to the kid after only hours – because that is what scared him the most. Caring that much about someone after so little time. It just made it so much easier to get hurt.

“I… guess not.”, he conceded slowly. “Alfred, I’m just-“

“I know you are Master Bruce.”, the butler comforted him, looking up from his cutting board. “I just need you to re-realize something you already know – family can be whoever you want it to be and while I know that you would like the young Sir to be related to you by blood, you know it would not change a thing if he wasn’t.”

Bruce’s shoulders slumped slightly. “Of course, it would not make it easier to love him like a son.”, he agreed, voice low. “But everything else would just… just work out better.”

“It would make some things easier for sure.”, Alfred said, having resumed his careful vegetable-chopping. “But just the paperwork. But everything taking place on an emotional level… Master Bruce- that you will have to relax about. Those are the things we both know will turn out alright.”

Bruce took a big breath, pulling the salad bowl closer again and taking out a piece of lettuce. “I guess you’re right.”, Bruce said and Alfred looked up sternly when he bit into the lettuce-piece with a resounding crunch, and Bruce was sure that he was about to say something about it, when he kitchen door flew open.

Dick was the first one to burst in and it took Bruce a second to notice the boy riding on his back – Dick did a quick spin-around and Jason let out and excited whoop, clinging tightly onto Dick.

“Don’t break him on the first day.”, Tim complained from behind them with a treacherous grin.

“You’re no fun.”, Jason complained with a giggle before spotting Bruce, who had his hand in the salad-bowl again. “Bruce! Still a bit creepy, but the library is _awesome_! And the swing outside goes like… all the way up to the _sky_! Cass even pushed me – she’s super-strong, did you know that?”

Bruce smiled, throwing Dick, Tim and Cass – who had also appeared in the doorway – a grateful look. “That sounds like fun.”, he said, enjoying the happy grin the kid’s bruised face. “You ready to do some boring adult-things then? We need to go clothes shopping, huh kid?”

“Oh.”, Jason said, face falling. “I don’t really have m-“

“I swear, if you say ‘money’ I will have to throw you out of that window, Jay!”, Dick interrupted threateningly, making Jason grin return weakly.

“Wow, someone’s living up to their name.”

“Stop it! I just say we fight the establishment and let the old man with the big purse pay!”, Dick said in an exaggeratedly rebellious tenor and Jason giggled.

“You raised ‘em so well.”, he shot towards Bruce, who was shaking his head in amusement. He shot Dick another grateful look before focussing his attention back on Jason. “Rule here is: I’m making you do something; I’m paying. You alright with that?”

Jason looked like he saw right through their scheme, but he did nod reluctantly. “Yeah…”, he sighed, signalling Dick that he wanted to get off. “It’s alright.”

Dick carefully put the boy down on the ground before straightening up again. “Can you make me go too, please?”, he asked then, in mock-sincerity. “I do need a new jacket.”

Bruce huffed out a quick laugh, shaking his head at his oldest son’s antics. “Sure, Dick.”, he said.

“Fabulous! You boys can leave right after lunch – provided Master Bruce has not eating everything by now.”, Alfred added dryly, lips quirking up in a near-unnoticeable smile.

“I just took one tiny piece of that _very_ delicious salad!”, Bruce protested, making Jason giggle again. Bruce wondered whether he should talk to the kid about earlier – maybe tell him that Damian freaking out on him earlier had nothing to do with him; not really, anyways. But then again, Dick, Tim and Cass had probably done a fair bit of damage-control, seeing that Jason seemed to be happy enough for the moment. That conversation could surely not.

-

Or maybe it couldn’t, he decided at lunch, when Damian was so busy glaring at Jason that he hardly touched his food, no matter how much Alfred, Bruce and Cass urged him too eat. Jason, of course, noticed this too, awkwardly trying to scoot out of Damian’s view and try and hide behind the big salad-bowl. Bruce let’ out a heavy sigh. “Damian, I’m taking Dick and Jason out shopping after lunch, would you like to join us?”

Damian let his fork fall back onto his plate with a loud clank, making Jason jump, before pushing his chair back even more aggressively, the noise filling the room uncomfortably. “Are you being serious?”, Damian snapped at Bruce angrily. “Why would I ever want to do that?”

“You can go instead of me, if that’s the problem.”, Jason said quietly, mumbling into his food and Bruce sighed heavily.

Damian whirled around, rounding on Jason, who flinched back, making him stop in his tracks, shaking his head. “This whole family is the problem.”, he barked then, before turning on his heel and storming out of the room for the second time that day.


	7. The Calm Before The Storm

“Look! It’s Superman!!”, Bruce heard Jason shriek from somewhere across the store, followed by Dick’s resounding laugh. He shook his head with a smile and tried to locate the two boys – and he did not really have to look, because Dick came bolting out from behind two clothes racks with an array of shirts and pants draped over his forearm.

“Look Bruce! Superman!”, he exaggeratedly imitated Jason’s excited voice, Jason running up behind him with a bright blue sweater thrown over his head in an obvious haste. Bruce threw a distasteful glance at the big logo printed across it and snorted. “Well, we’re not buying _that_.”, he complained playfully and Dick let out a delighted laugh again.

Jason threw a confused look at the older boy, appearing somewhat offended about not being in on the joke, and then looked back at Bruce with furrowed eyebrows. “Hey! That’s not the rules and you know it!”, he tried to throw back light-heartedly, but Bruce could see the unsureness written all across his face as he fumbled with the blue fabric.

Bruce smiled at him reassuringly. “Well, I’m playing by the rules as long as there is a matching Batman-sweater.”, he said and Dick raised his eyebrows in a way that told Bruce that he definitely wasn’t being very inconspicuous.

“Well, _duh_!”, Jason lamented. “The Dick got _everything_ Batman there _was_.”

“I would really like it if you didn’t add the article to my name like that, little buddy.”, Dick sighed in fond exasperation and Jason grinned up at him cheekily. “Well, where would the fun in that be?” Dick reached out then to ruffle the kid’s hair and Jason almost did not flinch at all, which seemed like a small victory in his book.

Bruce grinned lightly, shaking his head. It honestly amazed him how well the two boys got along already – but then again, Dick had always been the biggest people-person he knew and Jason was definitely the kind of kid that just naturally triggered one’s protective instincts; he knew that one from personal experience. It was a good thing, really – they had been in- and out of a number of stores and Dick seemed to be the only thing keeping Jason from going completely off the rails with the anxiety he was exuding from every cell in his body. Dick seemed to just… know what Jason was feeling and he was great at making the kid ease into the kind of child-like carefreeness that a nine-year-old should usually just naturally have. Jason did not have it; not yet, anyways – but Bruce was positive that being in this family was the something that could turn things around for him. Not matter if he was his legitimate son or not.

“We really excel at the whole secret-identity-thing, huh?”, Dick whispered, leaning in close to him and he chuckled lightly. Bruce smiled at his oldest son in fondness and took the pile of clothes from his arms. He looked at his wrist-watch and back up at the two boys in front of him.

“Alright guys, are you ready to move this to the cash desk or-“

“Yes! It’s super stuffy in here.”, Jason complained; and Bruce had definitely noticed that the kid did not seem to do quiet all that well – never missing a chance to fill the silence with absolutely anything that seemed to come to his mind. “But Bruce… You already got all those thing f’me… I really don’t need anything else.”, he added then, voice much lower and Dick grimaced in unhappiness. Jason had been hesitant and terrified about actually letting Bruce buy for things for him ever since they entered the first store and it followed them throughout the entire mall, no matter what Dick and Bruce told the kid.

It was a challenge, but between the two of them, they convinced Jason that Bruce would gladly pay for the last batch of clothes too, making the kid stammer and blush, but eventually accept. They got ice-cream right after with Jason looking really, convincingly happy in the overly big sweater of betrayal. “You were right, you really can taste the colour blue!”, Jason exclaimed eagerly, shovelling another spoonful of the half-molten, really questionable-looking, substance into his mouth.

“Told ya.”, Dick agreed through a mouthful of chocolate ice-cream and Bruce only just managed to refrain from telling them that ice-cream was unhealthy enough without adding a whole panoply of artificially-created chemical substances, or that nothing edible in nature was just naturally this bright of a blue.

He decided to bring up something else instead. “Jason, a good friend of mine will stop by at the manor later – she’s a doctor and I want her to take a look at you, alright?” He paused for a moment, hesitantly, because he really wanted to add something about the DNA-test to that sentence – it _could_ be the right thing to do, but Bruce really did not want to disappoint another person with the wrong sort of result. If the results came back negative, he would just not mention it to anyone ever again and mope in silence – it seemed like the healthy thing to do.

“You’re seriously calling it a manor?!”, Jason snorted, pulling him right out of his thoughts. “That’s rich.” Then, he seemed to recognize this as some sort of hilarious pun, at which he continued to laugh hysterically at until Bruce’s words seemed to sink in. “Wait, what for? M’ ribs are fine and everythin’, promise!”

“There are just some things I want checked out, buddy. Nothing to worry about.”, Bruce tried to reassure the kid, but it did not seem like he was all that successful if the way Jason let’ his spoon clatter to the table was any indication.

“Check if I’m healthy enough, yeah?! So that you can just sell me off to some other low-life family?” And Jason suddenly looked mad and resentful and really, terribly hurt in a way that Bruce knew he was partially responsible for. Which was something he usually did not respond well to.

Which was probably why Bruce heard himself snap: “That is not what happened.”, before he could come up with something reasonable to say. He closed his eyes in shame – he really could not deny sharing his genes with Damian, could he? – and then took a deep breath in order to have enough courage to meet Dicks disappointed gaze. And oh boy, it was Dick’s best one yet; this called for damage-control.

“I… Sorry, champ. I’m mad at myself, yeah? For letting this happen to you.”, he said, keeping his eyes on Jason who was staring at the table in steely determination. “It will _never_ again, though.”

Jason looked up then, shoulders raised and eyes heartbreakingly glassy and he did not look angry at all anymore. “Nah, sorry Mr. Wayne, for yellin’. ‘S just how the world works for street-trash like me, huh?”

Bruce could practically feel Dick flinch even from where he sat across from the two boys. “Woah, Jay, we took you in, so that means no more street-trash sympathy-cards for you, ‘right little buddy? You’re a manor-man now.”, he said then, attempting a light-hearted tone that did not quite work out. Jason faced him anyways, sniffling but still smiling slightly before pulling an exaggeratedly disgusted face.

“You’re silly.”, he said, voice shaky and weird-sounding. “I’m trying to throw a hissy-fit here.”

“No, you’re right to be suspicious Jason, I really messed up.”, Bruce chimed in, not wanting to let that serious of a conversation spin too much out of his control. “But Dick’s right: You’re stuck with us now and you will be until _you_ get sick of _us_.”

That actually made the kid smile genuinely, and thank god for that. “But what about…”, Jason started then, leaning in for a dramatic effect before dropping his voice to a whisper. “… Damian?” He pretended to shiver in horror. “He _really_ hates my guts.”

“He does not.”, Bruce reassured him with a nervous smile and Jason scoffed in disbelief, which was fair, because it was pretty safe to assume that he was not Damian’s favourite person at that moment.

Dick sighed loudly then, ruffling Jason’s hair again. “No one hates anyone.”, he promised in a tone that made even Bruce hopeful. It was probably a bit far off from the truth at the moment, but if Dick was still hopeful, then all could not be lost yet.

“I’m choosin’ to believe you.”, Jason snorted, picking his spoon up and shoving it into his dessert again. “Just so that’ya finally shut up, you Dick.”

“Hey!”, Dick pouted. “You sh-“

“ _Dick_.”

And that was that, then – Jason seemed to be eager to steer the conversation away from Damian and Dick and Bruce gladly joined his efforts, meaning that the rest of their outing was much less stressful and actually quite enjoyable. Jason never actually opened up about the things Bruce would really, desperate like to find out – like the week he spent with the other foster family or his life on the streets – but it was nice nonetheless.

They got home eventually, handing the new things over to Alfred to get everything washed and straightened out – but not before Tim and Cass also got a really good laugh out of seeing the Superman-sweater that Jason was still wearing.

“Hey, where’s Dami?”, he asked Alfred after he came back from the laundry room and the butler sighed heavily.

“The young Sir is still quite unhappy, I fear.”, Alfred said, face impassive, but Bruce knew that this bothered him too. “I attempted to speak to him, but did not wish to be bothered.”

Bruce grimaced. He would need to talk to his son eventually, but Leslie had messaged him that she would be at the manor in half an hour, so he would have to wait until after – this would be the kind of conversation that he would not want to be interrupted. But then again, this might be too important to move to a later time – Damian had seemed pretty upset and Bruce really did not want him to feel alone or unimportant. “He in his room?”, he asked Alfred.

The older man answered a quick affirmative and Bruce took a deep breath before excusing himself from the discussion about Superman that Tim, Cass and Dick already had going and ascended up the big stairwell to his son’s room. The door was closed, as it was all the time, really, and he knocked softly. No one gave him the permission to come in, but he was not denied access either, so he just opened the door carefully.

Damian scowled up at him from where he was sitting at his desk and Bruce smiled tensely. “What a day, huh?”, he started unsurely, watching Damian closely.

Damian scoffed. “What do you want, father?”, he bit out. “Me to be nice to the crime-child? Because everyone else is just _so_ fond of him?”

Bruce let himself fall onto Damian’s bed heavily, sighing again. “We’re really fond of you too, you know?”

“What?” Damian seemed still outraged, but Bruce could see him actually perk up in a slight interest. “I know that.”

“No, I don’t think you do.”, Bruce said, shaking his head slowly. “I think you’re feeling threatened by Jason, but you shouldn’t, because no one and nothing in the world could ever make me love you any less.” Bruce paused for a moment, before adding: “And I love you very, very much buddy.”, for good measure.

Damian scoffed again, but it sounded much less threatening. “I know that.”, he repeated quietly and Bruce stood up to pat him on the shoulder lightly.

“That’s good.”, he said lightly. “That’s good, then.”

“Yes, all good.”, Damian confirmed, clearly exasperated, but no longer really sounding mad. “Except, you know, there is still the issue of the little horror’s mother being involved with the Joker.”

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows unhappily. He knew that it would have been unrealistic to resolve everything in one talk and Damian was obviously still not in favour of having another kid staying with them – he just hoped that this was a step into the right direction. He could see Jason and Damian being good brothers to each other – and his feelings were usually right. Damian would just have to warm up to the idea and they clearly needed to figure out what the hell was going on with Sheila Haywood.

He sighed. “I will look into that.”, he promised then and Damian visibly deflated a bit. The boy had probably already figured out, deep down, that Jason needed to be separated from his supposed birth-mom in the same way that he himself needed to be. Bruce made sure to have Damian look into his eyes. “Leslie is coming over.”, he added then.

Damian’s expression did not change in the slightest, but Bruce could see that his son knew what he meant by that. “Do you really think that some boy from the streets could be-“

“Yes.”, Bruce interrupted him solemnly. “I do. And if I’m right, we will need to deal with that too. As a family.” It was all a bit more gooey and way more touchy-feely than their family-talks usually were, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Especially because Damian’s scoff was far less dangerous-sounding this time.

“If he takes over Robin, I am suing.”

This time, Bruce’s smile was genuine. “Noted.”, he laughed, ruffling a protesting Damian’s hair before walking towards the door. He was halfway there when he paused, watching his son lean back over what he guessed was a school-book. It was hard to remember, sometimes, that the kid was only ten – he was forced to grow up too fast. Much too fast. “How is school going?”

This time, whatever it was Damian unintelligibly grumbled, sounded a bit hostile again, so Bruce took it as his cue to leave.

Baby steps.

He closed the door behind quietly and went back down the stairs. He was surprised to see, that Leslie was already there, talking to Alfred while Jason half-hid behind the butler. He felt the reality of things slam into him like a ball of white-hot fear, because with Leslie here he was another step closer to finding out whether Jason and him were blood-related.

“I’m Dr. Thompkins.”, he heard Leslie tell Jason through the ringing in his ears and swallowed thickly. He watched Jason bop his head jerkily without saying a word and the kid looked terrified. Leslie knelt down in front of him. “Nothing to be scared of honey – just a standard examination.”, he promised in a light tone. “And I need to draw some blood – you ever have blood drawn before?”

Jason shook his head shyly. “You’re taking my _blood_?!”, he whispered in poorly-betrayed horror.

“Would it help if I told you that I need to get my blood drawn too?”, Bruce chimed in, surprised to hear his voice waver a little. Jason’s head whipped around to face him and he furrowed his eyebrows. “How’s that t’ help _me_?”.

Bruce chucked slightly. “I guess it wouldn’t.”, he smiled, putting a hand on Jason’s shoulder.

But in the end, it seemed to have helped somewhat, because Jason was oddly calm during Leslie’s exam, clutching Bruce’s arm like a lifeline. He was mostly quiet, answering Leslie’s questions with only a few words and his grip tightened when she went to draw his blood after having finished doing the same to Bruce.

She turned to talk to Bruce after having put everything back into her bag. Alfred had taking Jason and the other kids, excluding Damian, to the kitchen for a cup of hot chocolate, so they were free to talk. Leslie watched Bruce’s face for a moment, smiling knowingly. “Seems a bit small and skinny for his age, but that’s to be expected – the blood will give us more answers. You still want me to do-“

“Yes.”, Bruce breathed, interrupting her kind of rudely. “Of course, I do. Call me immediately when you have the results.”

Leslie continued smiling at him and Bruce immediately felt a bit better. “I will.”, she reassured him. “It’s going to be fine, Bruce. I can just tell you that there is not a doubt in my mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thank you so so much for commenting (I really cannot say that enough!!!) - I hope you enjoy this update and I am always open to suggestions! :)


	8. Results

“Is the kid alright?”, Dick asked Bruce after Dinner, when Cass and Tim had left to drag Jason to the library and Alfred had retreated to the kitchen. His oldest son looked worried – Bruce could see him fiddling with the hem of his light-grey vest and generally looking far less at ease than he usually did.

“Which one?”, Bruce asked, which was pretty valid, because Damian had not been at dinner, relying on Alfred to get him a decent meal up to his room, and Jason had been unusually quiet and withdrawn since Leslie’s visit. It had been slightly unnerving, apparently for Dick and him – it was not necessarily bad, because both kids probably just needed time to process everything that had happened the past days, but it was still something that had them slightly concerned.

Bruce found himself being incredibly proud of the outstanding empathy and compassion his oldest son was displaying, and had been showing more than ever since Damian and now Jason arrived, because he had definitely grown into the kind of oldest brother that the younger kids desperately needed; and he was glad for that. And he could tell that Dick _really_ enjoyed his role in the family, which made it even more beautiful to witness.

Dick gave him a thoughtful look, furrowing his eyebrows in consideration and eventually scoffed in slight amusement. “Huh. Both? I guess.”, he snorted, realizing that there were now two young kids that came with a special set of issues that they’d have to be concerned about from now on.

“They’ll be fine.”, Bruce assured him with a great deal more confidence then he was actually feeling, but it somehow made Dick look a bit less nervous. “I spoke to Damian earlier.”

“I know.” Dick was suddenly looking much more serious than he usually did. “How’d it go?”

“Alright.”

“Good.” They both paused, giving in to a moment of uncomfortable silence, before Dick cleared his throat with the obvious purpose of changing the topic and his eyes flickered to the chair that Jason had sat in before running off to the library with Tim and Cass.

“Would this be a good time to demand to know what happened to Jay?”, he blurted out then. And, yeah; Dick probably was the least-informed son in this whole situation. He had told Tim everything, that he thought appropriate to share with a child, himself and Damian obviously demanded answers from Alfred, before going online to find out just about everything there was to know about Jason, kickstarting a whole new drama. Dick might have found out something from either one of them and wanted to hear it from Bruce himself – or his son really did have no clue, because it somehow never really came up until now; it was actually very like, as, even though Dick had spent a lot of time with Jason in the past days, the kid sure as hell did not talk about those things with anyone.

“Jason told me something about embarrassing himself greatly in your office or something?”, Dick added, the statement sounding more like a question than anything else, but the amusement in his voice was palpable. “He claims that he went full on business-mode on you and that it somehow blew up in his face?”

Bruce let out a surprised, breathy laugh – of all the things that Jason could have told Dick, it was that. _Of course_ , it had been that. “He came to see me a bit over a week ago. The kid’s a great negotiator.”, he smiled, remembering the moment that the tiny little thing of a child waltzed into his office in pretend-confidence that maybe would have fooled Bruce if it wouldn’t have been for the whole ‘greatest detective in the world’-thing. It still bothered Bruce, if he was honest, because no nine-year-old should be able to just turn off the kid in themselves that well – of course Bruce had seen this behaviour in children that lived in the especially bad parts of Gotham a lot, because the life there just required them to grow up way too fast. And witnessing it never got any easier.

Bruce also found it painful, kind of, that Jason was so embarrassed about the whole thing, when there was a good chance that the kid had been right all along.

“He asked me to pay for his mom’s grave.”, Bruce told his son bluntly, before he had the chance to really think about what he _should_ say and Dick took a surprised step back. “He… thought I knew her, so he figured…”, Bruce tried to explain further.

“Oh, boy.”, Dick cut in before he could finish his poor attempt at summarizing everything that had happened without actually mentioning for what _reason_ Jason thought he knew his mother, and Bruce was kind of glad, because he had no idea how to do it anyways. “When-“, Dick started hesitantly and grimaced slightly. “When did she…”

“’Bout a year ago.”, Bruce said, when it was obvious, due to Dick’s voice getting all hesitant and shaky, that his son had no clue how to word this. “Dad’s out of the picture, so the kid decided that the foster-system wasn’t for him, so he bolted and spent the last year on the streets.” Quick and easy, which did the tragedy that, had been Jason’s life so far, no real justice, but made it a bit less overwhelming. It was a hard life-story to retell and especially talking about Jason’s supposed father felt immensely weird – especially because Jason had never thought of the man a such _and_ because it had somehow become pressingly important to Bruce that the guy would never be honoured that privilege again.

“And you decided to just, what? Stick him right back into the system?!”, Dick bit, rather suddenly, and Bruce could not help but grimace slightly – he guessed that Dick either knew more than he’d originally let on, or that he had pieced things together after Jason and his’ spat at lunch. It did not really matter _how_ he figured it out anyways, because Dick had just made a pretty good point – though, it would have been more devastating if Bruce did not already blame himself extensively for the choices that he’d made in his office a week prior.

Back then, it had seemed like the best decision that he’d be able to make in order to ensure the kid’s safety, but he had already figured out, by now, that he was just scared and uncertain about following his heart in the matter and that things had blown up in his face spectacularly because of just that.

“I thought I was doing him a favour.”, Bruce admitted and Dick scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. He quickly put his hand up when he noticed that Dick was gearing up to snap back at him. “I _know_ , Dick. Alright?”, he stressed. “You don’t have to tell me.”

Dick’s eyebrows were still drawn together but he refrained from commenting further, for which Bruce was grateful. He did not need all of this right now and he felt like he would not be able to breathe properly until he got the call from Leslie anyways. He still had not talked to Cass about her mission and they all had to leave for patrol in about an hour – Tim definitely would not let anyone convince him to stay back two nights in a row, so Bruce needed someone else to monitor everything from the cave, as he wanted Alfred to stay in the manor with Jason again.

“We _are_ keeping him, right?”, Dicks hesitant voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he watched his oldest starting to fiddle with the hem of his vest again. “I’m sure Damian will come around.”, he added. “I’m gonna talk to him too, yeah?”

“I think it would be nice if you would.”, Bruce agreed, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch into a small smile despite himself. “And yes.”, he said resolutely, and felt his smile grow subconsciously at the prospect of having another kid permanently living in the manor. “I plan on having him stay here, no matter what. If he wants to, that is.”

“That’s nice.”, Dick said, cracking a goofy smile. “He’s fun.”

“Yeah.”, Bruce agreed. “He’s a good kid.”

They stared at each other for a long, awkward moment, as if Dick knew that there were more things bothering them and Bruce thought that he could actually see the boy getting ready for further investigation. He fled, with barely a ‘see you later’, before Dick could open his mouth – with grace, of course, feeling like one, big, tense muscle and a wagonload of issues that he needed to run from. Because what even _was_ this day? It felt like it had been going on for weeks already and all the weird emotions he had going on suddenly made him really look forward to having a distraction in form of patrol later.

He was antsy and shaky and basically pushed everyone out the door as soon as they all said their goodnight-wishes to Jason. Cass had thankfully agreed to stay in the cave to monitor the city from there, claiming that she was still tired and sore from beating up bad guys all week anyways, which was probably a good-natured lie that she had seemed to come up with after everyone else had refused to stay behind already. He knew that Cass would usually not just rest up voluntarily, but he was glad that she was willing to take one for the team today.

They split into two groups and Bruce watched Damian carefully after he’d pulled the bat-mobile out of the cave – the kid no longer seemed as upset and angry as he did earlier, which was relieving. And Bruce would really love to take all the credit for this, but he knew that Dick had gone to talk to the kid after their discussion in the dining room, so his oldest son probably had a major role in calming Damian down.

In the end, it did not _really_ matter who, at least temporarily, fixed the boy up – it was a win one way or the other, because they all knew that Damian had held grudges for way longer than that before. But then again, he had not seen Jason since their little scene in the morning, so Bruce would have to wait for their next encounter to see whether they’d really dodged that bullet. Probably not yet, but he hoped that they were at least making small steps into the right direction.

“You feeling better?”, he asked, after they had already driven in unnerving silence for minutes and Damian scoffed loudly and exasperatedly, like it was the most ridiculous question he had ever been asked. Bruce sighed, keeping his gaze locked on the street in front of them determinedly. He knew better than actually follow that up with something, so he raised his hand to his right ear instead. “Cass? Babs? What have you got for us?”, he asked gruffly, jumpstarting his Batman-persona almost automatically.

There was the sound of hasty typing for a few seconds, before Cass’s voice rang through his com. “A lot.”, Cass said, still typing, from the sound of it. “They’re really not holding back today.”, Barbara added.

“I have a robbery on 6th.”, Cass said then. “Three guys, no civilians involved.”

“On it.”, Batman growled, turning left and adjusting his cowl, listening to Barbara briefing Nightwing and Red Robin on a drug-ring that had been discovered in an empty warehouse by the harbour. Both seemed to be easy enough to handle.

They were, and Batman and Robin were handing the tree men over to the GCPD not even twenty minutes later, already on their way the another robbery that Cass had found – it was a clear indication that things would be not nearly as calm as they were yesterday.

Bruce sighed, because of course every one of Gotham’s criminals had collectively decided that they needed to make up for yesterday’s quiet night – it sounded like they were in for a rough night and Bruce felt slightly guilty for being glad that he would be kept busy and not have to think about everything else that was going on.

And Cass’s first estimate- and his speculation of the intensity of the patrol definitely proved to be correct – the city was a mess, and they were rushing from one crime-hotspot to another, barely having time to catch their breaths, let alone update each other on what exactly was going on in their parts of the city. Fact was, that Nightwing and Red Robin were just as busy as Robin and him were and Bruce soon cursed himself for ever wishing for a distraction from his racing thoughts.

They all got back to the cave around three o’clock in the morning, exhausted and bruised, but thankfully not heavily injured, like Bruce had feared that one of them may end up at some point of the night. It were moments like those, that he really questioned having his children out there with him.

Tim had already taken off his cowl, limping lightly, his hair sweaty and matted against his forehead. “Jesus.”, he groaned, leaning heavily on Dick, who was frowning down at him. “This is what I get for refusing to be on nerd-duty two nights in a row.”

“Very dramatic.”, Dick commented teasingly, though his eyebrows were still furrowed in unhappiness, leading Tim towards the corner of the cave that Alfred was already waiting in. “Just sit down and let Alfred take a look at your ankle and I promise you that you can totally nerd-out tomorrow.”

He carefully helped Tim get settled in a chair near the cots and once he was, he scrunched up his nose. “You’re being very mean.”, he stated, the corners of his mouth twitching treacherously, sweeping his gaze from Alfred’s familiarly passive face to Bruce, who had appeared by his side, cowl off and looking as unhappy as Dick had when Tim had fallen awkwardly while trying to surprise a burglar. He placed one hand on his shoulder and grumbled something unintelligible. “It’s just sprained or something. I’m good.”, he said, emphasising his last statement in hopes that it might calm Bruce down.

It probably wouldn’t have, but the shrill ring of a phone interrupted them before anyone else could say anything. Bruce frowned, obviously aware that 3am-calls rarely came with good news. He looked down at his display and froze, actually feeling the colour drain out of his face, because this. was. it!!!!

Bruce had never picked up a call faster in his entire life.

“Leslie.”, he breathed shakily, and could immediately feel five sets of eyes boring into him. He knew that, if he were to look to his left, he would see the way Damian’s whole body probably gave off waves of mistrust and fury – he didn’t look though, because all of his attention was with Leslie, on the line. 

“Is this a bad time?”, was the first thing she said, obviously having picked up on his tenseness. Bruce clenched his jaw, but said nothing, willing her to just continue talking already.

“Right.”, she sighed. “I had Dr. Savrides run the tests – fake names, don’t worry – up until now. Seemed important enough to have someone stay up for it.”, she continued then, and Bruce felt his hand start to tremble slightly. He wanted to beg her to just tell him already, but his throat felt too dry to actually produce any words.

There was a moment of seemingly never-ending silence. “Congrats.”, Leslie said then, voice hitching slightly. “Positive.”

It was an indescribable sensation. Bruce could feel the tension leave his body at the same time some sort of weird, choked half-laugh left his throat and Dick was by his side suddenly, griping his shoulder.

“Thanks.”, Bruce choked out, his legs shaking underneath his lax body and just when he thought that they might give out completely someone – Alfred, as he came to find out – pushed a chair underneath him. It was weird to feel so many emotions at one – exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.

“What is it?!”, Dick screeched, bringing him back to the present slightly, looking freaked out and pale and nearly as shaky as Bruce felt. “B!”

And Bruce technically _knew_ that he should say something, because he was scaring his kids, but he just physically couldn’t. Dick was starting to look outright terrified and Tim did not look much calmer. “How bad is it?”, his oldest then rasped and Bruce really tried to get himself together enough to at least assure everyone that everything was fine. More than fine, really.

“Horrible.”, Damian bit out before he could get a word out and Bruce guessed that the kid had immediately figured out what the call was about and what kind of update he had gotten – he was perceptive like that. Bruce could finally will his body to at least move a bit and when he turned his head to face Damian, his son looked exactly as pissed off as Bruce would have imaged him to be; all tense and red-faced with tightly clenched fists.

He seemed to be unable to stand being in the same room with them all of a sudden, making his way to the showers – then he whirled around again, facing his confused family one last time. “You fools will be thrilled.”, he added, voice loud and shaking and then, he just vanished into the showers without giving anyone the chance to react.

“Give him time, Master Bruce.”, Alfred chimed in, having been oddly silent up until now, and he seemed to be a bit chocked up too – Bruce could tell, that he knew just as well as Damian did, what the phone call meant for them.

“What’s going on?”, Tim asked then and Bruce sighed heavily, feeling like he had finally regained some level of control over his body.

“It’s good.”, he choked out, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch into a painfully wide smile. He desperately tried to find the right words, that would do the amazing news justice, but he just did not seem to find them, thoughts whirling around in his head. He shook his head, standing abruptly. “I have to see Jason.”, he declared then, legs still not feeling all that stable. He shot a meaningful look over to Alfred, who nodded silently, agreeing to take over.

“Master Bruce has asked Leslie to do a paternity test for Jason and himself.”, he could hear Alfred address his children evenly in the background, making him feel even more shaky. This was real and exciting and he hoped that his kids would be as happy as he was – hoped desperately, that Damian would be okay. Really hoped, that Dick, Tim and Cass would understand that he kept this big of a secret from them and that Jason would forgive him for dismissing him that fast back in his office. It all were things that would need to be addressed rather sooner than, later, but…

… right now, he could only focus on Jason and how the amazing little boy was really _his_. It was late and he tried to be as quiet as possible when pushing open the door to Jason’s bedroom – even in the dark of the night, the room looked too sparsely decorated and bland to be a child’s and now that he knew that there was no way in hell that Jason would spend the rest of his childhood anywhere other than here, with him, he vowed to help the kid personalize his space as soon as possible. Make it really feel like his home; his _safe-space_.

He took a few careful steps, further into the room and his breath caught in his throat when he lay eyes on the small figure that was curled up under the thick blanket, because this was his _son_ and how could he even begin to process this. It was incredibly joyful and awfully sad at the same time. Another biological son of his whose life he had missed out on for nine years. And, just like with Damian, the first half of Jason’s childhood was not happy or carefree. It was poverty-stricken and troubled and knowing that he did not even know that Jason existed while the kid was suffering felt horrible.

He knelt down on the hardwood floor and reached over, softly moving a few strands of hair out of Jason’s eyes and it would have been a magical moment, had the boy not jerked awake with a gasp as soon as he was touched, suddenly sitting up ramrod-straight in his bed. He frantically searched the room for something, fumbling to turn on the lamp on his bedside and, in the dim light, found Bruce’s crouched form beside his bed. “The fuck?”, he mumbled sleepily and Bruce could not imagine how he had ever doubted that this kid was his – it might be a figment of his imagination but the child suddenly seemed painfully obviously like him; from the way his hair was sticking into every direction to the kids sleepily tense body-posture.

“Sorry.”, he whispered guiltily, voice still weak. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s even more creepy.”, Jason frowned, before his eyes narrowed. “What are you even _wearing_.”

Bruce looked down dumbly, which was unnecessary, because he knew for a fact that he was still half in costume, and waved his hand in a clear indication that it was not important now – not that Jason would have any idea. “I wanted to check on you.”, he said then, still trying to take in every little detail about the kid at once.

Jason blinked in confusion and huffed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “So weird.”, he whispered then, more to himself than to Bruce. “’M okay.”, he added then, not sounding convincing at all and Bruce got up from his awkward position in order to sit on the edge of Jason’s bed, making the kid eye him in suspicion. “You need anything else?”

“No.”, Bruce said, because while he did have the strong urge to just blurt out the truth, it would not make sense to do it in the middle of the night, right after he had scared Jason out of his sleep. “We really need to redecorate this room.”, he blurted out then.

Jason let out a startled huff. “Why?”, he asked, looking at Bruce like he had gone completely insane – and he could not blame the kid at all.

“It’s yours now.”, Bruce said, but Jason continued staring at him oddly. “You have to personalize it – we can go out for furniture and such in the next couple of days.”

“You wanna… buy _even more_ stuff f’me?”, Jason asked then, voice filled with disbelief.

“Yeah.”, Bruce choked out. “You’re-... you‘re a part of this family now, Jay.”

And Jason looked like he wanted to argue that, even if he did not yet realize how literal Bruce meant this, but instead – and Bruce did not know whether it was because the kid was bone-tired or because he’d picked up on the weird emotions in the room – he reluctantly leaned in for a hug.

It was probably meant to be short and awkward, but Bruce planned on really savouring every moment of it, wrapping his arms around Jason’s small form and holding his kid close. “Thanks.”, Jason mumbled, voice sounding weird now, but he didn’t pull away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! This felt like such an important chapter to write and I really hope that it turned out alright - it's definately a huge milestone in the story and I love that I finally got to write it!! I also plan on doing more longer chaps (like this one haha), because I feel like I have way too much time at the moment and it's the only way I can thank you all for the amazing comments you always leave - they are incredibly motivating!


	9. Talking The Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to do a chapter in Jason's perspective to show his side of things and how he feels about everything, but I am really unhappy with it haha :(  
> When reading, keep in mind that Jason is a very unreliable narrator, so how he sees things is not nessecarily how they are in reality.   
> I do hope that you enjoy this chapter even if it turned out a bit chaotic - and of course, stay safe and healthy!

Jason woke up the next morning and the first thing he thought about was Bruce, in his room, holding him close. Then, he came to the realization, that he had no idea whether Bruce really did barge into his room in the middle of the night or if he’d dreamt it – it would certainly not be the weirdest thing that had happened in the past couple of days, but someone caring enough to actually check on him did seem pretty unlikely.

He was leaning heavily towards _dream_ , especially – and that detail only came back to him just then – because Bruce’s entire get-up had reminded him an awful lot of Batman’s costume, which was just outright ridiculous. Because those people were weird and too rich for their own good, but Jason would not even expect _them_ to just dress up like Superheroes around the house, let alone in the middle of the night.

Dream then, Jason thought, and it was concerningly disappointing.

He sat up slowly and looked around, as if something the room would somehow serve as evidence that there really had been someone here a few hours ago – and boy, he truly, desperately wanted this to have really happened. The hug had certainly felt real and very comforting and Jason hoped, for an embarrassing moment, that he would actually get one of them sometime – even if for now, dreaming about parental affection seemed almost good enough.

He scoffed, scowling at himself for getting his hopes up; for all he knew, this had to be a temporary thing, despite what everyone tried to tell him – he would be out of the mansion before he could even _utter_ the word ‘ _hug’_. Everything else in life was not permanent, after all – at least not for him. And he knew _for sure_ that there was, at the minimum, one member of Bruce’s family that wanted him out as soon as humanly possible, so he was practically history already – there was no _way_ that Bruce would choose some random street-kid over his own son.

Jason sighed sadly; the past days had been the best one’s he’s had in a _long_ time – probably _ever_ , even if admitting that to himself felt a little bit like betraying his mom. She had done her best, and Jason knew that – he really did – but being here just felt like finally being part of a real _family_. It felt amazing to spend time with everyone and to eat real meals with them and the thought of leaving all of that behind was already scaring the shit out of him.

He shook his head, angry at himself. He had to stop acting like a fucking baby all the time, because what the hell was he even expecting from those people? Not even his own _dad_ wanted him and his mom hated him at least enough to turn to drugs, getting herself _killed_ in the process. Why would strangers want to keep him around when he was too much for his _parents_ to handle?

He got up, because thinking about those things for too long made him feel miserable, and went over to the huge wooden closet that was on the opposite of the equally large bed – Alfred had taken the time to put away all of the new stuff he had been pressured into buying the day before and he just stared at everything in awe for a moment after he had opened the closet-doors. Then, he picked out a long-sleeved black hoodie, that Dick had picked out for him – the Batman-logo was printed across the front and it was a bit too big on him, because Dick had claimed that they had to go with the _trends_.

He had no idea what the obsession with Batman was in this house, but seemed to have left a big enough imprint on him, that led to even the Bruce from his dreams wearing some weird uniform – but whatever, who was he to judge. He could play into their creepy cult for now.

Jason threw on a pair of black jeans that, as stark contrast to the hoodie, felt – thank you very much Dick – a bit too tight. He wiggled his legs a bit, to see whether there was still blood flowing through them and decided that he was good for now, even if he probably looked as ridiculous as he felt. He peeked out of his room carefully, and fully entered the comically big hallway when he saw that no one else was there. He really hoped that someone else was already up, because being alone in the huge building felt kind of unsettling and scary.

He was lucky, because everyone but Damian seemed to be up and at the breakfast-table already. They went quiet as soon as he entered the room and he awkwardly cleared his throat, walking over to where his place between Dick and Tim was, feeling everyone’s eyes on him. “Morning.”, he rasped, when they still had not resumed talking, after moments of tense silence. Dick smiled at him, pushing his chair out slightly and ruffling his hair and rescuing from the situation with a gentle: “Hey Jay. Nice hoodie!”. He grinned when Jason smiled back thankfully, before climbing up on the chair and taking in the huge amount of food in front of him. Everything looked absolutely delicious and he could practically feel his stomach growl.

He loaded his plate with a bunch of strawberries and grapes and grabbed two pieces of toast, trying to decide on what he should put on them, when he noticed that no one had resumed the animated chatter that he had heard from the hall before entering the room. Things had _not_ been this stiff the day before, and that rarely came with positive news.

Jason raised his head slightly and immediately caught Bruce’s look – it was the oddest stare he had ever received, honestly; a bit like the guy was trying to swallow him whole with his eyes or something. He frowned self-consciously, brushing his hand though his unruly hair in an attempt to make it stand out less. Bruce continued to just kind of… watch him, creepily and Jason furrowed his eyebrows.

“What?”, he asked, voice verging on hysterical. It seemed to snap the man out of whatever trance he’d been in, and he swallowed thickly. “I… We need to talk after breakfast, Jason.”, he said then, voice rough and Jason felt his heartrate picking up. “O-Okay.”, he stuttered, feeling his hands starting to shake. He shoved them under the table quickly, trying to not let anyone see that he was terrified. Was he being kicked out already?

He looked over to Tim this time, but just got another goofy, encouraging smile in return – but neither Dick’s nor Tim’s facial expression would do him much good in this situation. His stomach was churning, and he suddenly did not feel hungry at all anymore. The other boy’s grin slowly turned into a tiny frown when he noticed, that Jason was not returning it. “You okay?”, he asked then, voice low enough to only be heard by Jason.

“Yeah.”, Jason breathed, eyebrows furrowed a little, already way too deep in thought. “I guess.”

He was not sure if the other kids knew what Bruce wanted to talk to him about, but everyone definitely was acting a lot stranger than usual, so they had to have some idea of what was going on. He felt various eyes on him as he half-heartedly bit into a piece of toast, just to do something other than overthink this thing, staring at the plate in front of him stubbornly instead of looking at anyone at the table.

If he ignored them, maybe they would just go back to acting normally too? It was a pretty good plan, but he did not anticipate his throat feeling too tight to actually swallow, which caused the bread to get stuck somewhere in his oesophagus, -and him to cough dramatically. It did not help his quest to avert the other’s attention on him in the slightest, which might have been good in that case, because the hand Dick was thumping on his back with probably saved his _life_ or something.

“Can we talk now?”, he wheezed out instead of thanking the other boy, finally looking up at Bruce, who was still watching him, face slightly contorted now that someone had nearly chocked at his breakfast-table, effectively putting a damper on the already weird mood. He suddenly couldn’t wait another moment, because this was seriously messing with him, and he wanted to tell Bruce that as eloquently as possible, to save face, but all he managed was a quiet, pitiful: “I can’t…”.

“Sure.”, Bruce said, when it became clear that Jason was in no way able to finish that sentence, shooting him another strange look as he stood up rather abruptly, making Jason’s nervousness surge. “Come on.”

And wow, this was way too much and he suddenly was not sure if he really wanted to know what Bruce had to say anymore. He swallowed heavily and looked up at Bruce, who gave him a painfully tight smile and before had placed a hand on his shoulder before he could voice his reluctance, leading him out of the dinner hall and towards the living room that he had played cards in just the day before – the guy could definitely feel Jason tremble underneath his fingers, but he did not comment on it. Jason felt the desperate need to diffuse the situation with a joke or some silly remark, but he was too scared to do so, because he was just not able to analyse this situation properly – like, what if he said something terribly wrong that would make Bruce even madder??

He swallowed heavily, but stayed quiet until they reached the large sofa, onto which Jason climbed, making himself as small as possible, while Bruce sat down on the coffee table, effectively blocking his fastest escape route and coming uncomfortably close at the same time. The man sighed, thankfully not noticing the spike in Jason’s panic, and then took a deep breath, like he did not know what to say – and Jason always thought that it was very alarming when adults were at a loss for words.

“It’s okay.”, he blurted out then, unable to stand the silence for even one more second and wanting to release Bruce from his obvious burden, because he could already guess what this was leading up to anyways. “I understand, really! You guys tried, but… y’know? I’ll be fine.” Jason could hear his voice lose volume and secureness with every word he forced out and then – to his horror – his eyes grew wet and his lower lip began to tremble. “Fuck.”, he sniffed, angrily wiping over his eyes before turning his gaze down to his socked feet. “Sorry.”

“What?”, Bruce said then, sounding positively horrified himself. “What do you think this is about?”

Jason furrowed his eyebrows, feeling tears threatening to spill over. “You’re kicking me out.”, he declared, voice trembling dangerously and actually saying the words out loud was a whole other level of pain. “But it’s fine, I’m-“

“No.”, Bruce suddenly snapped, before suddenly lunging forward in an attempt to grab his hands, making Jason flinch back violently, before he could stop himself. “You’re not being kicked out, buddy.”, he added then, voice much softer, but his hands no longer anywhere near Jason’s and he looked shocked enough that Jason actually believed him.

Humiliatingly enough, this is what actually broke the dam, making Jason sob loudly. “Then what-”, he gasped out, but was becoming too worked up to actually finish a thought or sentence.

“Hey, it’s alright.”, Bruce tried to soothe him, which only made him sob louder and this time, he barely reacted when he felt himself being pulled into Bruce’s chest, suddenly too emotionally and physically exhausted to fight something he knew he secretly craved.

“Sorry.”, Jason whimpered into Bruce’s grey shirt and the man shushed him gently without speaking and it took minutes for him to calm down at least slightly – the hug was helping with that; it felt really nice and nearly made him believe, for just a second, that his dream could have very well been real. “Sorry.”, he repeated when, when he felt that it was safe enough to do so without bursting into tears again.

“You’re good.”, Bruce assured him, rubbing his back softly, before Jason felt him take a deep breath again. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Jason wanted to snap that he was not scared, but at this point, he knew that he would not fool anyone, so they were both silent for a couple of seconds, neither making any move to end the hug. “I do need to tell you something though.”, Bruce said eventually. “But it’s not bad, I hope.”

“Okay.”, Jason mumbled, wriggling out of the embrace now, wiping his sleeve over his face again, for good measure, and Bruce moved away a little too, without taking his eyes off him.

“Okay.”, Bruce repeated, pausing slightly, seemingly searching desperately for the right words again. “You- You originally came to me, because you thought I was your dad, yeah?”, he started then, his voice sounding weirdly hesitant and shaky.

“Uh-huh.”

It was strange to just sit down with someone and have some sort of grown-up talk – Jason did not really do serious very well, because that usually meant having to let his guard down. Bruce, seemed to have no idea what he was doing, which made everything ten times more awkward, even if it also made him feel a bit better about not knowing how to act himself. “I told you that you’re wrong about me being your dad.”, Bruce continued, looking like saying that was causing him physical _pain_ or something.

“Sure did.”

There was another moment of absolute silence – Jason did not even dare to breathe, because this was starting to feel more and more important. Bruce, on the other hand, took several breaths, furrowing- and unfurrowing his brows and looking around the room as if searching for something, before he finally spoke up again.

“You weren’t wrong.”, he said, weighing every word very carefully and never once breaking eye-contact with Jason, who was too mesmerized by this to look avert his gaze anyways. “I was.”

And, wow. Okay. Yes. Even Jason could see, how this was big news, and he could feel his mind suddenly going a mile per minute. What a major plot-twist! “I told you that my mum’s not a liar!”, was the first thing out of his mouth, because that had actually bothered him a lot over the past days – and he only now realized how much. Bruce gave him a pained smile, which was understandable, because Jason would be embarrassed about not remembering people too! Maybe it was a sore topic for Bruce, so he decided not to comment further – he could relish in the fact, that his mom had not been dishonest with him later, in private, where he would not have to see Bruce’s grimace.

“So is that like… good news? Or nah?”, he asked instead, feeling a bit overwhelmed momentarily, now that the news actually registered in his brain.

“I think it’s very good news.”, Bruce replied, a bit choked up, but without pausing for even a second this time, sounding unbelievably kind. And it was in that moment, that everything _really_ hit him, his mind finally catching up – this did not just mean that his mom told him the truth, but it also meant that Bruce was his _dad_. Not Willis, like he had believed for over a week now, which was just _so_ great – he knew some things about genes and stuff and he definitely did not want Willis’ anywhere _near_ him. Having Bruce as a father was, in his opinion, a major improvement – Jason had not seen him take one sip of alcohol yet and his kids did not seem scared of him at all _and_ he had an actual job, that did not seem to involve any illegal business. It almost seemed to be too perfect, and he really liked Bruce. Also, the guy gave great hugs and he made Jason feel kind of save and he suddenly realized that that were not just good-, but _great_ news.

“I think so too.”, he whispered after a long moment of tense silence, tearing up again, and Bruce’s face took on an oddly pinched look too, the weird look the man’s face had adopted during his prolonged quietness immediately disappearing. Then, he was pulled into a hug yet _again_.

And he could get used to those, because they made him feel warm and safe and _protected_. “So, just to make sure…”, he mumbled into Bruce’s shoulder when the situation was getting a bit too emotional for him to handle. “This means that I’m staying, yeah?”

He felt Bruce chuckle tearfully, the noise reverberating in his chest, that Jason was still pressed up against. “No, kiddo.”, he said. “I think you’re really stuck with us now.”

Jason smiled, before his face fell slightly, and he pulled away. “Damian will _kill_ me.”, he said, playfully horrified, though he knew that there was some truth to his statement.

“You boys will be fine.”, Bruce assured him, but he did not look all that confident either. “He just needs some time.”

Then, Bruce stood up again, signalling that the heavy-talk was as good as over now. “I’ll have to call Ms. Mang later to go over the paperwork with her.”, he said. “Then, we can enrol you in school and have some other legal stuff done, but that probably won’t concern you.”

Jason was slightly in awe at how the man – his dad, he reminded himself, just because of how cool that felt – could just seemingly switch his emotions off like that, when Jason himself still felt shaky and overwhelmed. “That’s awesome.”, he breathed. “School, I mean.”

Bruce smiled slightly.

“You ready to go back to breakfast now? You must be hungry.”, he asked then and Jason nodded, because he felt like he could eat something without the added danger of choking to death now, and let himself be led back into the dining-room by Bruce.

When they pushed the door open and entered, everyone went quiet again, but it felt much less pressing than it did before. He felt more confident to actually look at everyone this time, and Cass was the first one he laid eyes on and she was smiling encouragingly enough to free him from his last doubts, making him grin hugely. “I’m not getting kicked out!”, he announced, which made Tim throw him a confused look and Jason feel bad for a short second for putting a damper on the mood, but then Dick let out a loud whoop, before Jason found himself – yet again – be scooped up into a big hug.

“I told you so, Jay.”, he said, voice as shaky as Bruce’s was earlier and Jason smiled as he put his arms around Dick’s throat to properly lean into the embrace.

Then there was a hand on his shoulder and he turned his head slightly, to see Cass standing beside them, still smiling. “Welcome.”, she said, and Jason felt like he was thrown into some happy-go-lucky family-movie, that was not even a bit like real life. Except, this was real, and things seemed to be going well for him for once, which was a thought that nearly made him cry again, causing him to hide his face in the crook of Dick’s neck, just to be absolutely safe.

Of course, things could only go okay for so long when he was involved, because it was just a few hours later, right after he’d helped Alfred peel potatoes in the kitchen, that he came across Damian, which seemed to really mean trouble.

Well, he came across a huge, dark dog first, that looked pretty frightening, but was wagging his tail as he came closer to him, so Jason thought that he’d probably be fine. Dogs were very cool after all, and he could not believe that no one had told him that there was one living here – he’d have loved to take him out for a walk or something! First though, he knew that he had to gain the animal’s trust without startling it and getting _eaten_ or something. He didn’t even have to bend down to pat the large, furry head, and the dog leaned into his hand after sniffing it in interest.

Jason giggled slightly, when a big, pink tongue seemingly came out of nowhere to lick across the side of his face and he was in the middle of trying to save at least some of his skin from getting absolutely slathered with dog-saliva, when there was movement in one of the less brightly-lit areas of the hallway. “Don’t touch him!”, someone snapped, and Jason thought that it might have been directed at the dog for a moment, but then he saw Damian jog up to carefully yank the dog, who looked as puzzled as Jason felt, away from him.

“I didn’t do anything!”, Jason felt the immediate need to defend himself, because he did not want this day to go to shit – it was supposed to be really special after all, what with him finally belonging somewhere again and stuff. He wanted to just enjoy this without having to fight – especially not abut something like this.

Damian seemed to not share that sentiment though. “Yet.”, the boy snarled and he looked dangerous enough for Jason to feel the need to take a step away from him. “You don’t get to just come here and act like everything suddenly belongs to you!”

“I’m not!”, Jason said, brows furrowed, because this could not still be about the stuff he said to Damian when he last saw him, could it? But what did he know about anything, so if he’d hurt the other boy, he would have to apologize probably, even if he did not really feel like he did anything wrong – it was better than having to argue.

“Are you still mad about the joke I made?”, he asked, and this apology seemed to be off to a rocky start, because Damian’s face only got more furious, so he hurried to add the important part. “’Cuz I’m sorry, really, that it hurt you! Didn’t mean anything by it, I promise! ‘T was jus’ a saying.”

“It is not about what you say, but about what you are, Todd.”, Damian yelled then, and Jason took another startled step back, eyeing the boy in front of him warily. “What am I?”, he asked, then.

“A manipulative street-rat.”, Damian said, rather nastily, as if he just wanted his words to sting – which they did, thank you very much. “You might have everyone else fooled, but I have you figured out! You are nothing but trouble and I will find out what your motive is.”

“My what now?”, Jason all but whispered, tightly hugging his arms to his chest – how had this escalated this fast? He wanted to get angry, yell too, but he felt too drained to do so all of a sudden. He needed this family-thing to work. _Desperately_. And he knew that he was by no means a perfect kid, but he _tried_ very hard, and facing this much hate after spending that little time with someone confused him. “I dunno what you’re talking about man.”

“I know that you do.”, Damian scoffed. “You and your criminal scumbag of a mother.” Then his face went a shade paler, as if he’d said something bad – like he knew that he had gone too far.

It was too late now, though. Jason felt his eyes water for the millionth time that day. “My mom’s dead.”, he spat, but there was not much force behind his words and his voice was way too quiet and shaky. “And you’re very mean.”

It was not a real insult, but it was all he could come up with in his shock and desperation. How could he have managed to ruined things this fast? It was not like Bruce could not still give him away when he caused trouble and he was still convinced that he guy would choose Damian over him any day. He sniffled, watching Damian try and pull the dog, that was attempting to get closer to Jason, further away and then he jumped a bit, when he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

“That is quite enough.”, a calm voice said and Jason did not have to look up to know that it was Alfred. Damian, for the first time since Jason had seen him, looked slightly embarrassed, but still so terrifyingly mad that Jason felt like he would be attacked right then and there if Alfred had not appeared. “Master Damian, I think you ought to apologize to Master Jason.”

Damian face lost all abashment and twisted in fury once more. “No.”, he bit out, before turning on his heels to storm away, taking the large dog with him.

Alfred sighed, nearly inaudibly, and Jason lowered his head, trying desperately to choke down a sob. “I apologized f’what I said, yesterday, I swear!”, was the first sentence that jumbled out of his mouth. “I dunno how to…”

He trailed off. Alfred was pretty awesome, but he probably would not be able to fix this. It was a shame – Damian had been a good card-player. Far better than the other kids or Bruce were, so Jason would like to play another round with him.

“He needs time to process and get used to this new situation.”, Alfred said then, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Do not fret, Master Jason – it is nothing against you personally.”

Jason nodded, but he really doubted this – everyone had told him something along those lines, but what he had seen just now had seemed like raw, honest hate, and he knew that that was not easily fixable.


	10. Back To School

“This is ridiculous!”, Jason complained from where he was pressed into Dick on the large sofa in one of the living rooms, the cup of hot chocolate that Alfred had gotten him clutched in both hands. It had been late and Dick had seemed to be getting ready to go out or something when he had stumbled out of his room earlier, after having already wished everyone a good night a bit over an hour earlier, because his body – especially his brain, really – had _refused_ to calm the fuck down.

He had been on his way to the library when he had bumped into the older boy, who’d seemed positively startled, still fully dressed and weirdly jumpy, asking Jason what he was doing out of bed, which had made him cower down, fully expecting a lecture or something worse. But then, Dick had cut him off in the middle of his frantic apology, offering to stay up with him until he could go to sleep, to which Jason had reluctantly agreed. He had not wanted to keep Dick from doing whatever he was going to do, and he had told the other boy that, but Dick – being all stupidly self-sacrificing – had insisted on showing him his favourite movie instead of doing other, probably far more amazing, stuff.

He had left him with Alfred first though, who had not been mad about Jason not being asleep too, but had made him that delicious cup of hot chocolate instead; leaving another one for Dick on the counter, who had come back about ten minutes later, dressed in sweatpants and a thin shirt, giving Alfred an odd, meaningful nod, before scooping Jason up with one arm while grabbing both of their cups on their handles his the other hand. Jason had squealed in delight, as Dick made his way into the living room, both of them ignoring Alfred’s half-hearted scolding about needing to be more careful with hot beverages or something.

“It’s a classic.”, Dick frowned playfully and Jason chuckled happily, taking another sip of hot chocolate in contempt, while the older boy struggled to defend his choice of movie. “I have seen it a thousand times!”

“Sounds like ya don’t know what’s good then!”, Jason teased, watching the others reaction carefully, in case he went too far or something, but Dick just laughed and ruffled his hair for what felt like the millionth time that night. He pulled back slightly, throwing Dick a look before trying to flatten his hair a bit, but the guy just grinned wider and gave him a quick squeeze.

It felt kind of nice, to be spending time with Dick like this – and even the movie was not _actually_ that bad. Jason just had never seen any of those big-time Disney-stuff, that the other kids at school had sometimes talked about, so being confronted with all of this talking toys-shit was something he’ll probably have to get used to. But, other than that, everything felt like the sort of perfect family-stuff that was usually just being presented to him in books and posters – never in real life; Dick was like the sort of older brother that he’d always dreamt of having – all fun and caring and really good to cuddle up against.

Jason found himself actually laughing out loud at a couple of scenes after getting over his first confusion at the concept of the whole movie, which always resulted in a painfully smug look thrown his way by an equally amused Dick – he did his best to ignore those.

They only got through about half of the film, when Jason felt himself getting more and more tired, eyes suddenly feeling way too heavy to keep them all the way open and everything being too comfortable to be able stay awake much longer.

The nearly-empty cup of hot chocolate was being taken from his hands then, and he could not even muster the energy to fight it. Before he knew it, his eyes were falling shut completely, and he found it quite refreshing that the only thing he had to worry about right then was, that he would not get to see how the movie would end – not if he would have his organs harvested in the middle of the night or some similar Gotham-shit. It felt really, _really_ nice. Easy. And while he knew, technically, that life would not suddenly be carefree – there already were major issues with Damian – he thought, for the first time in forever, that things might be looking up for him.

He woke up in his bed in the morning, with the pleasant memory of his movie-night with Dick still fresh in his mind – this time, he knew that it had not been a dream. Dick must have carried him off to his room at some point, but he could not remember anything past feeling way too tired to even think about fighting sleep. Jason yawned widely, rolling over and noting happily, that he felt really rested for once.

The blinds were still closed, but it was bright outside – so much so, that he knew that it must be well after breakfast already. His body must have desperately needed the sleep, after a week of barely resting and a year on the street before that. He sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the overly large bed and spending a moment to just take in the room around him – it was huge, just like the rest of the house, but sparsely furnished; there was a bed, a desk, a closet and a weird-looking plant in the corner. He felt himself wondering if he could maybe wish for a bookshelf on his birthday or Christmas or something – Bruce would be able to afford it, but it was still a lot of money and he did not know if he was allowed to ask for something that expensive. Especially after having already gotten that many clothes and having a whole library in the house anyways – it would just be nice to have some books of his own within reach.

He got up, wincing slightly when his ribs twinged at the movement – they did not really hurt anymore, but they were definitely still pretty sore; he could not complain about that though. Injured ribs were definitely better than a hurt leg, because at least he could still run with those!

This time, dressing himself was easier, as he already knew that he needed to avoid those dangerously tight jeans like the fucking plague, because he was pretty sure that he was only minutes of wear-time away from having to have them surgically removed yesterday – what the hell had Dick been thinking, making him buy those? No, he went for cosyish-looking sweats this time, and had just finished putting them- and a plain white shirt on, when he was startled by a knock on his door. It opened immediately after, and he spun around to see Bruce staring at him. “It’s late.”, the man said, brows furrowed. “I just wanted to check if you’re alright.”

“I am.”, Jason frowned, closing the door of the wardrobe. “Just… I dunno, tired, I guess.”

Bruce nodded, looking slightly awkward, but moving further into the room in order to sit down on the office chair behind the desk, swirling it around in face Jason, who was still standing in front of the dresser, not quite knowing what he was supposed to do with himself.

“How are you doing?”, Bruce asked, slightly hesitant, and Jason had no idea why _he_ was acting so nervous. “This must be a lot to take in.”

“I’m good.”, Jason mumbled, taking a careful step towards Bruce, only to freeze and jerk right back to where he was. After having slept a night on everything, this just felt weird – they had had their big emotional revelation-type-moment, but Jason had not really seen Bruce at all after that and it made him feel incredibly awkward and out of place. Especially after Damian had thrown his fit the day before and even though Jason knew that Bruce had an argument with him after, it did nothing to make _him_ feel better.

“That’s… good.”, Bruce said, before he made a big show of clearing his throat. “I have everything sorted out with the CPS, so you’re officially living here as… you know- my son.”

“That’s great.”, Jason said, actually feeling his lips twitch up into a small smile, which was awkwardly returned by Bruce.

“Yes.”, the man smiled. “I also spoke with the director of a very prestigious school here in Gotham, that will let you start a bit over two weeks from now.”

This time, Jason’s face broke into a full, genuine grin. “Amazing! Thanks man!”, he cheered, only belatedly realizing that he might need to start calling Bruce _Dad_ or something like that. He could not really bring himself to say that yet – maybe the man would not even _want_ to be called that by Jason after all. Jason would ask, if it weren’t such a super embarrassing topic.

“You will have to do a placement test next week.”, Bruce continued, like these were particularly bad news. “Just- You know, no one expects you to do as well as other kids your age might. With… with everything you’ve been through, it’s more than okay to-“

“Are you calling me stupid?”, Jason scoffed jokingly, just to mess with Bruce a bit. He would probably do just fine on the stupid test anyways, having spent a significant amount of the past year in the public library, convincing himself that he was still in school and living a normal life. He had done his reading and the whole math-shit and he was pretty sure that he knew those things better than most other children at nine did – those kids who were _actually_ having a normal life; going home to their families or doing fun stuff after half-heartedly staring at some books for a couple of hours and not even having the _time_ to get lost in _schoolbooks_ of all things.

Joking or not, he seemed to have gotten to Bruce, because the man recoiled slightly, shaking his head vigorously. “Of course not!”, the man insisted, a bit too desperately. “You’re a really smart kid, Jason, but you haven’t been in school for a while and that could mean that…”

“It’s fine.”, Jason interrupted, not wanting Bruce to actually feel bad for saying some shit that had not even been that offensive. “I know what ya meant. It’s just… I’m not _worried_ or anythin’, really.” He wondered whether he should further explain himself – talk about those sad library-days of his, but that would probably just turn out to be incredibly awkward either way, because what if he did end up doing super badly on the stupid test, after having already bragged to Bruce about everything he had tried to teach himself in the past year? That was just a big no-no, and he definitely would not want to risk that happening.

Bruce sighed, smiling and relaxing his body a bit, which made Jason take a few steps forwards almost automatically. “That’s good.”, he said, before adding a quick: “I’m not either!”, despite everything indicating that he really, really was, and it made Jason chuckle slightly.

He watched Bruce stand up then and walk over to him, kneeling down slowly and awkwardly engulfing him in the hug that Jason had not even realized he was craving yet again. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around Bruce’s body, though they did not fully reach across the entirety of it. He thought that hugs might possibly be the best things about Bruce being his Dad, because it made the man less afraid to initiate those comforting touches, which felt actually relieving, because if Bruce did, he did not have to worry about maybe doing something that was not welcome. “It’s gonna be alright.”, he heard the man mutter, and he let the words wash over him without questioning them – it just felt good to hear them.

“Let’s get you something to eat, hm?”

“Ya mean, let _Alfred_ get me somethin’ to eat?”

Bruce chuckled, patting his back lightly before breaking the hug. “Yeah, that’s more accurate.”, he agreed, leading the way out of the room, Jason following him slightly reluctantly, because he really did not want to see Damian out there – that kid seemed _dangerous_ , honestly. It was kind of terrifying, that they shared at least some DNA. He did not even want to think about _that_ , really – even if he had to admit, that it would be cool to be able to play with someone his age and it kind of sucked that Damian despised him so much, that that would never be an option.

Luckily for him, Damian was nowhere to be seen – neither were the other children for that matter and Jason turned a questioning gaze to Bruce. “Tim and Damian are at school.”, the man explained, as if knowing exactly what Jason was curious about. “Cass is out with Stephanie and Dick is in the training room.”

“Training room?”, Jason perked up, because that sounded exciting and Bruce frowned slightly, making Jason think that he should have rather asked who Stephanie was – he really hated making Bruce make that expression. “I can show you that some time.”, the man deflected then, leading Jason further into the dining room, where everything had been set up around his place at the table already and he found himself immediately distracted by the vast amount of food that seemed to have been prepared for him alone. He was up on the chair in a matter of seconds, suddenly feeling positively _ravenous_.

Bruce was watching him from the doorway with a little smile, before he sat down at the table as well, pouring himself a glass of juice. “The paperwork is nearly through, so we can start discussing your-“, Bruce stopped himself abruptly, taking a big gulp of juice before continuing. “ _Catherine’s_ gravesite. If you’re feeling up to it, of course.”

Jason ignored the weird pause in favour of nodding excitedly, only feeling a slight twinge in his heart at the mention of his mom. “Yeah, I’m up t’it!”, he exclaimed. It was, after all, the only reason he went to Bruce in the first place, not even fathoming, back then, how everything would turn out for him in the end. He was glad that Bruce had mentioned it again, because after everything that had happened, it felt more and more weird to ask the man about the deal they’d made.

“Alright.”, Bruce nodded, giving him a tight smile that Jason did not really see, as he was too busy digging into a portion of scrambled eggs. It was delicious, as all things he had had in the manor so far and he really wanted Alfred to teach him everything he knew – he was the one cooking, when it was just his mom and him, but it was usually just spaghetti with tomato-sauce or some shit, and he knows that his mom would have loved the stuff he was being served here; at least back when she still enjoyed eating.

“Thank ya, again.”, Jason said, because he felt like he could not say that enough, with everything that Bruce was doing for him and the man smiled more genuinely this time. It felt nice, kind of, to spend some time with Bruce only – he had not done that since the day in the office, which, yeah, was not _that_ long ago, but _still_.

“We can play that rematch later.”, he blurted out, after a moment of nearly-comfortable silence. “Y’know… Black Jack!”

Bruce’s face seemed to brighten further, which made Jason feel nicely warm inside, and the man gave him a grin. “You bet we will.”, he said. “I won’t let you win this time!”

Jason broke out into a grin too, at that. “Still as delusional as ever.”, he teased, hoping that his sarcasm would not be misinterpreted – but that did not really seem to be a big issue in the manor; except with Damian, obviously, but everything was an issue with him, sadly. Bruce only chuckled, and the eggs somehow tasted even better after that.

Jason got more used to things, in the following week he spent in the manor. He found that the Disney-movies Dick and Cass made him watch were really not bad at all and that Alfred seemed to be unable to make a less-than-perfect meal and that the guy was generally just _really_ awesome. He also figured out – even though he already _suspected_ – that Bruce was like, _super_ - _awkward_ , and even weirdly secretive at times, but that he was also trying very hard to make up for all of the years of Jason’s life he’d missed – Tim had told him, when they were roaming around the garden a few days earlier, that Bruce was pretty mad about not getting to meet Jason earlier, which was understandable, because Bruce really did get him when he was already half-ruined by the tougher parts of Gotham and the life on the streets; the guy would have probably preferred to have an untarnished son, who pronounced everything the way Alfred did and who loved to play golf and shit. Jason wasn’t that, and Damian seemed to be the only one who treated him like Jason expected everyone else to do too – like absolute scum, really – but the other boy had not spoken another word to him since their encounter in the halls a week prior and no one else’s attitude towards him changed for the worse, so he was probably still good. Also, being ignored was always better than actually fighting – he had learned that the hard way, so he was kind of glad when he noticed, that Damian had settled for only alternating between throwing Jason dirty looks and pretending that he didn’t exist, instead of trying to get into a shouting-match every time they saw each other. It still hurt, but it was way better than the actual fighting they’d done twice before.

He still did not know how to act around the other people living in the manor – no one had hit him yet, but he could not bring himself to fully trust them. It was horrible, because they all seemed to get really sad when he flinched away from sudden touches – he could not help it, but it made him feel even worse about things. Dick, he had decided, was the coolest guy _ever_ – he was really funny and knew how to _backflip_ and he had even promised Jason to teach him! Bruce had made a face when they’d discussed that, but Jason did not care very much, because he _desperately_ needed to learn how to do backflips the way the older boy did, ‘cause that was just really _badass_.

It was early afternoon, and Jason was in the library – it had become his absolute favourite spot in the entire manor – reading a fancy-looking copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ , when the doors opened and Tim came in, looking not even a little surprised to see him – everyone already knew at that point, that he was usually here or in the kitchen with Alfred, trying his best to assist in making lunch or dinner. “Oh, hey.”, Tim smiled, weakly waving one hand. “Bruce is looking for you. I think they finally sent your test-results.”, he said, obviously eager to tell him, because Jason had probably driven everyone crazy, obsessing over them for the past couple of days.

“Shit.”, Jason swore before he could stop himself, book sliding from his lap before he could think to look at the page he was on. “Is it bad? I have to go back t’ kindergarten, don’t I?”

Tim actually chuckled at that, shaking his head in what could be interpreted as fondness and putting his hand on Jason’s shoulder awkwardly. “I wouldn’t worry.”, he said. “He seemed really proud.”

That made Jason perk up a little, because he could not remember anyone ever being _proud_ of him – his mom might have told him that she was, a couple of times, but she was deliriously high then, so Jason wouldn’t count that as a hundred percent genuine. But if Bruce actually was proud – and Tim was usually right about those things – that must mean that he had done something _right_ for once.

He jumped up then, nearly slipping on the book that now lay abandoned at his feet and could not help but break out into a painfully big grin. Tim caught him by his upper arm, chuckling slightly. “Careful.”, he said, steadying him before letting go and mimicking Dick’s signature hair-ruffle. Jason grinned, but could not think of a comeback, because his thoughts revolved around the fact, that he was probably going to _school_ soon.

“Thank you.”, he gave as his parting shout, as he raced out of the room. He nearly bumped into Bruce in the hallway and had to be prevented from falling onto his face yet again. “Careful.”, Bruce scolded, just like Tim did seconds ago, and it made Jason giggle slightly. “Sorry.”, he grinned then. “Tim told me that ya wanted to talk t’me?”

“Yes.”, the man nodded. “But it’s good news!”, he immediately added, obviously recalling what had happened the last time he’d announced that he wanted to talk to him – it was a bit embarrassing, honestly, but he tried his best to appreciate the effort. “Let’s go to my office.”, Bruce continued, before he could think too much about it though.

And even though Jason _knew_ that nothing bad was going to happen, his nervousness still grew the closer they got to the door Bruce was leading him to. When he sat down on one of the chairs in the huge room, he could practically feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest, but he did his best not to show that, because everyone already treated him as if he was a delicate flower or some shit like that. Bruce sat down too, a few metres away from him, behind his desk and picked up a white folder, that looked like it had already been opened. “Those are your test-results.”, Bruce stated – Jason already knew that, but he felt his heart pick up even more speed. “I already had a long phone call with the school director.”, Bruce added, his tone getting softer, as if sensing that Jason was uncomfortable.

“Okay.”, Jason nodded, not sure what he was expected to do. Bruce just smiled at him. “We are all very impressed, you did great.”, the man told him, thankfully not letting the tension build up unnecessarily, and it made Jason grin before he could even fully process this. “They say that you should not have any trouble keeping up with your peers, and that they want to do everything in their power to further nurture your abilities.”

Jason swallowed heavily, because his entire body suddenly tingled in glee – he knew when taking the test, that most question did not really prove themselves as a challenge to him, but hearing someone talk about him like this felt incredibly special. Of course, it could still be because he was Bruce’s son and they did not want to offend someone that important and wealthy, but if that got him into school, it was still mostly fine with him. “That’s cool.”, he croaked out, surprised at the unsteadiness of his voice.

“Yeah.”, Bruce nodded, before standing up, crossing the distance between them and kneeling down in front of him – it was almost something like a signature-move for him now, so Jason knew what to expect. “You can be so proud of yourself.”, the man smiled, seemingly weirdly emotional, which really was unusual for Bruce. “I know that _I_ am.”

That made Jason tear up, just a little – and wow, he had gotten really wimpy ever since he’d stepped foot into this house. “Thanks.”, he whispered, not trusting his voice to hold if he’d speak with more volume. Then, without thinking about it, he wrapped his arms around Bruce tightly before the man could do it himself, feeling him return the hug almost immediately, running a hand up and down his back, like the Dad’s in Dick’s movies did.

“D’ya think I’ll be okay in school?”, he mumbled into Bruce’s shoulder after a moment of hesitation, and he felt the hug tighten a little.

“You will.”, Bruce soothed, and Jason automatically leaned even more into the larger body. “And if anyone gives you trouble, they’ll have to deal with me.” And that made Jason smile even wider, because Bruce really was acting like the parents in Dick’s movies did, and they all seemed to like their kids pretty much, so this had to be good. Jason stepped away then, because he did not want to get _too_ attached, after all.

“Alfred will take you out to buy everything you’ll need for class and you will have to get your school-uniform fitted.”, Bruce said, quickly recovering from the abrupt ending of their hug. “You can start on Monday – all teachers have agreed to take your test-results as the foundation for this year’s grades.”

“Sounds good.”, Jason nodded, feeling overwhelmingly happy to finally being able to get back to school. This would be awesome!  
  


Or well, probably mostly awesome, as he came to find out, when he found himself sitting next to Damian, in the car on his way to his first day of school. And it did not take away all of his enthusiasm, but it certainly put a big damper on it – how could he ever believe that there would not be a downside to this? He had not even thought about going to the same school Damian did, even if it seemed kind of obvious now, as they were nearly the same age. Damian was back to stubbornly ignoring him, after throwing him the initial death glare when he opened the car door only to see Jason already in there.

Jason tried to ignore him too, which was not that hard, because he was too busy pestering Alfred about the new school and everything surrounding it, while Damian was staring out of the window with an annoyed look, anyways – it still stung a little, because this would be so much greater if he got along with Damian like he did with the others; it would certainly make his first day in the new school easier, instead of harder.

But who knew, maybe their relationship would change if they went to the same school. Jason could only hope so!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!! :)


	11. Nighttime-Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY! I know that this is not *that* late, but I still feel super bad for potentially making someone wait :( I were just a couple of busy days and life will continue to be pretty until my MedUni-entrence test on August 14th! I plan on posting the next chapter on next Sunday, so that's a bit over a week again.

Bruce could not even remember what the manor used to be like, before Jason came bursting into it, even if the boy had only been there for a little over five weeks. It honestly felt like they had all known the kid forever – especially Dick had been ecstatic to finally have a little brother that allowed himself to be coddled, when none of the others ever did agree to Dick’s affection without complaint. And Jason really did gravitate towards his oldest son, which seemed to be doing a lot of good for both him _and_ Dick, and it honestly was heart-warming to see Jason being accepted into the family that easily; not just by Dick, but also by all of the others. Tim was adorably excited about Jason admiring his computing-skills, which meant that Bruce was seriously starting to worry about Jason being able to hack into the school system before even completing elementary education, given the time him and Bruce’s second oldest spent fiddling with one of Tim’s gadget. All in all, in was good though, because in between movie-nights with Dick and Cass and cooking with Alfred or spending time with Tim, Jason was definitely loosening up, the welcoming demeanour of those around him clearly putting him at ease.

Well, most of those around him, honestly speaking, because there still was Damian, whose animosity towards his new younger brother had only gotten worse in the past weeks, and it was starting to be more concerning than just some jealousy difficult to overcome, because it was hard on both boys, even if Damian would never admit that. He was still all sharp-edged and acting way too old for his actual age, and Bruce did not seem to be able to get through to him, no matter how hard he tried. Jason suddenly bursting into their lives had only made it worse, and it did not seem to be getting better anytime soon – not even when, as Alfred had originally predicted it might, Jason started going to the same school Damian did.

It was frustrating.

Damian was still obsessing over Sheila Haywood, and there was no convincing the boy that while _yes_ , the woman was undeniably criminal to an extent where Bruce was seriously regretting ever getting involved with her, Jason had no connection with her, other than the undeniable, biological one. And Damian should know that being related to someone who did bad things did not automatically make you a bad person – by now, it should be clear that Jason was not lying about who he believed his mom to be.

Alfred, in his enviable wisdom, had guessed that Damian most likely knew both things to be true, deep down, but did not want to believe them, because he would have to reform his opinion on Jason if he chose to do that, which he clearly did not have any interest in.

It was awful, because Damian’s hatred made everything much more difficult – it seemed to prevent Jason from getting fully comfortable in the manor, furthered the hostility between Damian and Tim and generally made Damian and everyone around him miserable. Nothing good came from it, and no one seemed to be able to convince Damian of that, no matter how hard they tried.

Jason’s first weeks in the manor were a lot different than Damian’s were – while he also came with a lot of baggage, he was still a kid underneath it all; yearning for affection and approval and being ridiculously childish and cheerful at times. It was a welcome distraction from lives that were usually quite serious and grievous – a world-weariness that came from witnessing sorrow- and fighting violence on a daily basis.

Jason had wormed his way into their hearts easily, before he even was confirmed to be Bruce’s biological son, and it was a beautiful thing to witness – and he was not just a sweet child, making the hardships of their lives a bit more bearable, but also ridiculously smart and inquisitive. It was something that Bruce had known from the minute he’d met the kid, but the test-results still came as a pleasant shock to him, and he still did not know how Jason had managed them, seeing as natural brightness did not necessarily equal a full understanding of the school material that one had not even been taught to him in the past year. It had stunned the teaching staff and the director of the school to an extent where Bruce had felt so proud, he thought he might just burst. It was, apparently, an incredibly high-score, that no one could really explain, given that it was achieved by a crime alley kid – it was relieving in the sense that Bruce would not have to worry about his son being treated differently from other kids.

So, all in all, things were going well.

Obviously, there were some non-Damian-related hardships too – nothing too serious or unexpected, but enough to raise some worries. Something that bothered him was, that accepting that Bruce was his actual dad still seemed to be difficult for Jason to grasp, despite being told so for all of his life. He was insecure around Bruce and refused to call him anything other than his name – sometimes still ‘Mr. Wayne’, when he was nervous or expecting to be in trouble; never ‘Dad’ though, no matter how much Bruce hoped he would. Despite that, he always tried his best to spent as much time with Bruce as possible, even if that was not all that much time at all, because he had a lot of work to do – and it broke Bruce’s heart, because he _knew_ that he did not spend enough time with his children, but whenever he tried to clear his schedule for them, something business- or Batman-related came up.

With the results of the DNA-test in his favour, Bruce could also clearly see himself in the boy – for better and for worse – and he still had no idea how he had doubted Jason’s story before. The masking emotions – in Jason’s case with humour instead of gruffness – was definitely not something he wanted to pass on to his kids, but he definitely had, and they would have to work hard on fixing that, because Jason, unlike him, was not a lost cause yet – Damian hopefully wasn’t either.

Also, Jason was still horribly insecure and jumpy when approached too fast. They had caught him sneaking food up to his room, which apparently was to be expected, if you believed Leslie, but Bruce still did not know how to even start to deal with those issues. He hated that his son had suffered enough to cause lasting psychological damage without him even knowing that he _existed_ in the first place.

Jason seemed happy though, and everything else, they would be able to sort out as well. It would just take a little time and effort – which, luckily, they had both. 

Then, Jason had his first day of school, and it only made them feel more like an old-established family, because they all had a certain routine to follow and being part of the everyday-life in the manor seemed to help in making Jason believe that he did actually belonged here and would not be sent away. They were all getting up at roughly the same times to eat a quick breakfast, before leaving for work or school – and when everyone was home, they usually even managed to eat dinner as a family; some special nights, even getting to watch a movie together. It still felt like Bruce was spending way to little time with them all, but he was doing the best he could.

It all felt refreshingly normal – before, of course, the majority of them suited up to patrol the city while Jason slept, not aware of the disturbing fact that he only knew half of who the people he lived with really were. Bruce did feel bad about never bringing it up, but he reasoned that it was for Jason’s own good, that the kid could not handle that kind of secret yet – it was easier, than admitting to himself, that he was just scared of what consequences he would have to face if he would let Jason in on it.

But, as it turned out, the consequences of **not** telling Jason were worse.

They had been out for almost three hours when Barbara notified him of some kid, running around the city, yelling for Batman’s help, so of course, he went to check out the coordinates she sent over.

Nothing could have prepared him for seeing Jason, his youngest _son_ , running around the particularly nasty parts of the city in the middle of the night, clothed in only his dearly-loved Superman-pyjama and socks on his feet. He was screaming and yelling for him between heavy sobs and Bruce could practically feel his heart stop, while Robin stiffened next to him. He moved before he could even fully process what he was seeing, coming down in front of his boy with an uncharacteristically loud thud that made Jason flinch and jump back with a hoarse sound, but his terrified expression changed into one of relief when he saw who had landed a few metres away.

“Yes!”, Jason exclaimed and stumbled a few steps forwards again, still crying and Bruce honestly felt like breaking down himself, because how could his have even _happened_? Jason was supposed to be the one that he would be able to keep uncompromisingly safe and here they _were_.

“What’s wrong?”, he asked, falling down on one knee to be on Jason’s level. “What happened?”

“Everyone’s gone.”, Jason sob-gasped, whole body shaking. “From- from t’ manor, everyone’s… nobody’s there and-“

“Shit.”, Batman barked, before he could stop himself, because it had been a busy week and Jason had not once woken up and left his room since he came to the manor, so they had figured that it would be safe for everyone to go out or, in Alfred’s case, monitor them from the cave – it had gone well the past couple of days, but Jason had been more twitchy and agitated that day. No one had even thought that it might translate to a less-deep sleep. Jason suddenly looked scared again, but he did not move away this time.

“Please.”, he begged, voice cracking and cheeks wet, glistering with tears. “You need’ta save ‘em! They were taken, ‘m sure!”

“Why leave you?”, Robin snorted next to them and Batman shot him a sharp look.

“’M not as important.”, Jason shrugged the question off without even pausing to think, before focussing back to Batman. “Please, help ‘em! It’s my dad! Uh, Bruce Wayne… He’s important for ya too, I think! And… and my- my brothers and-“

“It’s alright.”, Batman forced out, trying desperately to be a hero instead of a dad, like Jason believed him to be. “They’re safe. I need you to calm down.”

He heard Robin snort next to him and he could barely bring himself to blame him, because everything about this _was_ ridiculous and so painfully obviously his own fault – and worst of all, he had no idea how to fix this without everything blowing up into his face even more.

“How- How do you know that?”, Jason sniffled, desperately trying to compose himself. He was still shaking, and Bruce realized at once, that it was way too cold to be outside in just the flannel pyjama that Jason was wearing and he was suddenly unable to concentrate on anything but that.

“How did you get into the city?”, he asked, voice still gruff and almost accusing, because he could not help it while his thoughts were racing like they currently were. This time, Jason did take a step back, eyeing him warily. “I… ran?”, the kid answered, shrugging it off like it did not really matter that he ran 7 miles because they had all just left him on his own on purpose – of course, he did not know the last part.

“Maybe you did not search thoroughly enough.”, Robin said, thankfully not as cruelly as he could have done. “It’s a big house. A lot of rooms.”

“I looked _everywhere_ , okay?”, Jason snapped, clearly getting frustrated, but it did not sound threatening at all, given the quivering of his voice. “I’m not an idiot, they aren’t there.”

Another scoff, but Batman managed to stop any unnecessarily rude comment with another glare before it could be uttered. “Jason, you have to believe me when I tell you that everyone is _fine_.”, he said then, looking deep into his son’s glassy eyes.

“How do ya know my name?”, Jason stuttered, and Batman froze, because that was a beginner’s mistake, really – he was saved by someone landing behind him with a much more graceful thud, compared to his one from earlier.

“B, Oracle said you might need help.”, Nightwing’s voice rang out. “You were not responding to any comm-calls, so-… what the hell?”

Batman could tell that Nightwing had just discovered who Oracle had thought he might need help with, because he sounded just as horrified as he had felt just minutes earlier. Jason still flinched back, obviously scared now, because things were surely not going as he had planned.

He needed to do something now, so he made a rash decision, turning around to face Nightwing. “Take him back to the manor.”, he ordered. “Have Alfred meet you there. Make sure to get him warm and calmed down.”

“Right.”, Nightwing nodded, obviously still confused and freaked out, but professional enough to not let Jason see.

“You need t’ help my family.”, Jason told Nightwing weakly, when he took Batman’s place, kneeling non-threateningly in front of the boy. “They were kidnapped.”, he added, searching all of their faces desperately, like he could not believe that none of them had taken him seriously yet. “ _Please_.”

“It’s alright.”, Nightwing told the kid, same as he had done earlier, even if he too had to know that nothing was alright in the slightest – even if it was not bad in the way that Jason believed it to be. He leaned forwards to scoop Jason up and the boy clung to him in a way that made his own heart ache all over again. “You’ll be alright.”

“He is manipulating all of you.”, Robin said before they were even fully gone, arms folded and gaze stern. “You are not seriously believing a thing of what he just said, right? It was a ridiculous tale!”

“Damian.”, he sighed heavily, head starting to pound in beat with his heart. “Sometimes children are just scared, you know? There is nothing rational about that.” And he could not help but think how Damian should be acting more like that too – irrationally and rash and maybe even dependable. They both fell silent, even if he could see that Damian was dying to make another comment, but apparently not following through with it.

Bruce was out of the Batman-suit before Damian could even finish snarking at him for being pathetic and gullible. He had told Tim and Cass to continue patrol while he went home with Damian, practically throwing himself into his civilian clothes and stomping up to the manor, where he burst into the living room where he rightfully expected his sons and Alfred to be.

He only found Dick and Jason, the latter still clinging to his older brother’s form, just like he had earlier, only difference being that Dick had changed out of his Nightwing-costume too, at some point. Jason was still in the red-and-blue-pyjama, with only the socks missing now, bare feet poking out of a heavy blanket draped over both boys and his head was buried into Dicks shoulder. He did look up though, when he heard Bruce enter and he only locked eyes with his Dad briefly, before he hid his face in the blanket again with a pained sob.

“’M sorry.”, a muffled voice said a few seconds later, barely understandable through Dick’s shushing and the still heavy crying, and Bruce carefully sat down next to his son on the sofa, placing a reassuring hand on Jason’s quivering back. He shared an alarmed look with Dick when Jason did not even react to the touch.

“You don’t need to apologize, buddy.”, he said, eyebrows furrowed while he waited for a response that never came, looking back to Dick for help.

“He’s exhausted.”, his oldest son explained. “Alfred thinks he’s running a fever. He’s getting the thermometer and stuff.”

Bruce felt his heart constrict again, his hand freezing mid-stroke and moving to what was visible of Jason’s left cheek, pressing the back of his fingers against burning skin and cursing silently, because this was the last thing they needed on top of everything else.

“Sorry.”, Jason sobbed again, lifting his head off Dick’s shoulder this time. “Please don’ kick m’ out!” And he really did look helplessly exhausted, his face pale with tear-tracks all the way down to his neck and his hair wildly sticking up into all directions, eyes barely seeming to track what was going on around him.

Bruce frowned, not only because of the way his kid looked, but also because Jason had not said a word about expecting to be kicked out in _weeks_ and he should not right now, especially not over something that was not his fault in the slightest. He gestured to Dick that he should hand Jason over to him, which his son reluctantly did, and Jason did not seem to care who he was clinging to, because he was wrapped around Bruce before the man had even fully lifted him off of Dick.

“You’re okay.”, he tried to calm the kid down, even if that was pretty far from the truth – besides, he himself was not feeling particularly calm, so Jason was probably picking up on that too. For a tiny, short moment, Bruce caught himself thinking how glad he was that Jason was not demanding an explanation on why they were all gone in the middle of the night. “Everyone’s alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was a bit of a mess, I did not proof-read it as thoroughly as I usually do, so please do tell me if you find any mistakes! Hope you enjoy!!!!


	12. Coming Clean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not proof-read AGAIN, because I would not have been able to post it on time :( I will come back in the next couple of days to properly read over everything and will, once again, be grateful for every mistake pointed out to me! :)

Jason did have a fever, as it had turned out when Alfred had come back with the thermometer – Bruce had not exactly been surprised, because he had felt the heat practically seep through Jason’s and then his clothing, making him feel like he was pressed up against a radiator. He could not help but feel like this was his fault – failing a kid while actively trying to protect them was, apparently, in no way better than deliberately putting them in harms way. It actually felt even worse, and he probably should have known that his secrecy would not go over smoothly in the end, no matter how pure his intentions were. Still, the knowledge that he would not be able to protect his children – one way or the other – was weighing down on him heavily, in a way that made him feel like screaming or possibly trashing the living room.

Both things were not really an option though, because he was, for one, not alone in the room and had also promised Alfred to try and work on his issues in other ways than lashing out. Dick was still beside him on the couch and Damian was now hovering nearby, watching them carefully and critically, and Bruce really hoped that he would be spared another angry outburst, because those always proved his paternity to the kid in the worst way possible, and he did not really need that constant reminder of being somewhat of a ticking time-bomb himself. But even if he could not really _blame_ Damian for his anger-issues and was doing his best to be patient and understanding, he already knew that he would not be able to handle his sons rage well on top of everything else right now – and his son might have sensed that, because he only huffed, turning on his heels and striding away quickly, shoulders squared and head held high. It was what made Bruce tighten his grip on his youngest son, as if that would forever contain the child-like innocence that Damian so clearly lacked and he swallowed heavily, lightly resting his chin on sweat-soaked curls and quietly promising, once again, that everything would be fine.

“I fear that I will have to take a look at young Master Jason’s feet.”, Alfred spoke carefully, after he had handed out a generous portion of children’s Tylenol, and Jason grimaced, subconsciously pulling his feet up higher onto the couch to avoid anyone touching them. Dick smiled sadly at that and reached out, patting his brother’s shoulder lightly while Bruce uttered another useless stream of reassurances, that were probably only helping himself.

“Nothin’ wrong with them.”, Jason mumbled without any trace of the usual playful defiance his voice held when he was unhappy with a situation, but Alfred had already pushed the coffee-table aside in order to better reach him, wound-spray in one hand and a bowl of water in the other. But, probably knowing that he did not need to waste what little energy he had left on a fight that he was bound to lose, he still pushed both legs out from under the blanket, allowing easy-access to his feet – not without grumbling about “not exactly always having shoes out on the street” though; it made Bruce tighten his hold further.

“They’re all cut up.”, Dick exclaimed as soon as Alfred had removed the dirt-caked socks, his voice higher-pitched in obvious disapproval. “That’s not nothing!”

“I’m sorry.”, Jason mumbles, facing no one in particular and tensing up when Alfred places both feet in the bowl of water he had brought, carefully cleaning them with a washcloth.

“Nothing to apologize for, Master Jason.”, the butler chides, but not without throwing a pointed look towards Bruce, as if wanting to make absolutely sure that he knows that not everyone in the room is that innocent and Bruce absolutely _does_ know, but it stings nonetheless. Particularly because Alfred had been the biggest advocate when it had come to not keeping secrets from his youngest son, no matter the reason, and Bruce hates that it took something like this to start believing in the man’s pieces of advice. He had somehow managed to convince himself that he was doing everything – lying – in Jason’s best interest and refusing to listen to anyone who had tried to convince him otherwise was probably stupid and arrogant and entirely unproductive.

This could have all been avoided. Jason did not have to wake up, scared and alone, in the middle of the night, thinking that his newfound family had been taken. Bruce sighed. This was bad, but it was not even the worst-case-scenario – what would have happened if Jason had not been able to find him? Or had not even tried to get help in favour of just taking off to god knows where?! Had been more severely injured in his middle of the night-hike back into the city? He could barely make himself think about the possibilities.

Also, he realized with a steadily climbing sense of dread, this was not the only thing that he was keeping from his son. It was probably – arguably – not even the _worst_ thing he was keeping from him under the pretences of only wanting to protect and shelter him from negative emotions or from being overwhelmed or, in the specific Batman-related lie, from physical threats. It was unfair though, for the sole reason of mainly protecting himself through Jason, because the thought of maybe having to hurt his son had been to unbearable – even if he would have done so by telling the truth.

“Ow!”, Jason gasped then, startling him out of his self-deprecating thought-process and he jerked his head down a bit to see had Alfred had already moved on to disinfecting the clusters of little, angry-red-looking cuts on his kid’s feet. Dick moved forwards to take Jason’s left hand into both of his before Bruce could even react further, effectively calming him down a bit, even if they all knew that he must still be hurting and tired and generally unwell.

“How bad is it?”, Bruce heard himself asking Alfred through gritted teeth. “Do we need to-“

“Only superficial cuts, Master Bruce.”, he was cut off before he could even voice his thought of just packing Jason up and rushing him to a hospital, because his boy was hurting and sick damn it, and he could do nothing but sit around and philosophize about his many failures. “They should not be causing too much trouble. The elevated temperature is something we should monitor closely in case-”

Jason sniffed, burying his head deeper into the nest of blankets surrounding them, before taking a deep breath, effectively interrupting Alfred’s assessment of the situation. “’M ankles also… I dunno… Landed awkwardly earlier.”, he forced out then, the admission seeming to cost him quite an effort – and it was a pattern with Jason, really; him not really wanting to tell anyone about those kinds of things. It was that knowledge that made everyone pause, looking at each other in careful wonder, because this meant that the kid was either starting to trust them more – doubtful, given the events of the night – or that he was _really_ out of it.

“Thank you for telling us, Master Jason.”, Alfred said, the first one to recover, his voice not giving away anything as per usual. “I am going to have to take a closer look at it, so that might be a bit uncomfortable.”, he warned, trained hands running over Jason’s right ankle carefully before he shook his head and moved on to the other one, eliciting another sharp gasp from Jason, who had turned worryingly pale in the past couple of minutes.

Bruce frowned, running his fingers through his son’s sweat-soaked strands of hair in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, sharing another look with Dick. “Hey buddy, did you think about how you want to redecorate your room yet?”, he asked then, feeling Jason lean into his hands and trying to remain composed despite everything.

“Book case would be… super neat.”, Jason muttered hoarsely, voice hesitant and unsure, like he was convinced that he was asking for too much; which was, of course, ridiculous, because Bruce would probably remodel the entire manor if one of his kids asked nice enough.

“Done.”, he promised, instead of making this another serious talk, because the objective was to keep Jason distracted from the pain, not to make him even more uncomfortable. He took a deep breath, trying to think of a way that could keep the conversation going when Dick chimed in, thankfully, radiating excitement and eagerness: “That’s _it_?! No, no, no, _Jay_ , we need to go big!”, he exclaimed, wresting one hand out of the death-grip that Jason had on them in order to gesture dramatically. “I’m talking a built-in petting-zoo! An indoor tree-house! Something super-awesome, like a whole-“

“We get it Dick, you’re secretly still nine too.”, Bruce interrupted, trying to with the playful banter that seemed to usually cheer Jason up. “We’re not doing a petting-zoo!”

“I resent that!”, Dick shot back. “But I’m also taking it as a clear yes for the indoor luxury tree-house that comes with a pool and a cool swing and all of that good stuff!”

Jason giggled then, weakly and not sounding like his heart was all in it, but it was still the best sound that Bruce had heard all day. “You can turn ya own room ‘n’to some weird kind ‘f forrest-zoo, Dickface.”, he mumbled, raising his head a bit to shoot his brother a light grin, making Dick squeal in delight, obviously relieved at the slight success in cheering Jason up too.

“Language.”, Alfred half-heartedly noted from where he was crouching in front of them, seemingly very busy with wrapping a clinically white bandage around Jason’s right feet, the left one still carefully placed on a small pillow on the coffee-table.

“What fun would that be?”, Dick mock-pouted dramatically, succeeding in drawing another small giggle out of Jason.

“You better plan the room out yourself, buddy.”, Bruce noted, hand still running through Jason’s curls carefully. “Before this one get’s his hands on anything.” He gestured to Dick, who, in return, shoved him lightly.

“Very mean.”, Dick said pointedly. “But hey, B does have a point Jay. Wouldn’t want to have your room looking like an old dude’s living there.”

“Or worse: lookin’ like yours.”, his youngest added with the snarky-ness of someone that could also be a lot older and Dick barked out a content-sounding laugh that made Bruce appreciate the bond the two of them had all over again. Jason was still grinning weakly, exuding tiredness from every fibre in his body, but Bruce thought that he looked excited at the prospect of being able to make his room look exactly like he wanted it to.

“I’m going to have to take a closer look at that ankle now, Master Jason.”, Alfred said then, jostling them out of the fortress of humour they all liked to build around precarious situations. Bruce still appreciated the warning, because only seconds later, Jason nearly toppled off his lap with a pained yelp with a suddenness that almost resulted in Bruce not being able to catch him.

“It’s alright.”, Bruce soothed for what felt like the hundredths time, re-tightening his grip on the boy and looking down at what Alfred was doing unhappily. The ankle did look a bit swollen, but not enough so to definitely be broken, so that was a win – it still looked painful though and it obviously _was_ painful too, because Alfred’s examination made Jason squirm and quietly whimper; so much so that Bruce could practically feel the unhappiness radiate off of Alfred.

It felt like an eternity, but Alfred finally declared the ankle to be sprained, carefully wrapping it up too and giving them all a tired smile. “All finished.”, he told Jason, who had gone quiet once again, head pressed into Bruce’s chest and small body shaking.

“Thank you, Alfred.”, he smiled up at his butler before moving his attention back to Jason. “What do you say, champ? Ready to go back to bed?”

“Yeah.”, the kid said, wrapping his arms around Bruce’s neck before looking up at Alfred, who was packing things back into their huge first-aid-kit. “Thanks.”, he added then, seemingly sincerely and Bruce sighed fondly, carefully rearranging Jason’s limbs before standing up slowly, doing his best to keep the blankets in place, Dick rising with them to keep everyone steady.

“You should get some sleep too.”, he told his oldest son quietly, feeling Jason grab onto the back of his shirt tightly while Dick nodded.

“You got him?”, he asked and the look he threw him suggested that the question was a lot more meaningful than that – it was more of a demand, really, to not fail Jason again. To finally come clean.

“Yes.”, he said firmly. “I got him.”

He had not really carried Jason before, and the kid felt way too light in his arms, which was to because he was all skin and bones, obviously, and Leslie had told them that he was on the brink of severe malnutrition – something that could be fixed, but not overnight, of course. Jason also felt entirely too warm for Bruce’s comfort and he should probably check his temperature again before letting him sleep, just to make sure that he would be fine for the rest of the night. Alfred had said that it was probably nothing to worry about, but with malnutrition usually came a weakened immune-system and that alone was enough to make him at least a little uneasy.

He carefully pushed the door to Jason’s room open, watching the burgundy curtains flutter around the wide-open window and sighing heavily, moving to close it before doing anything else, because the room already felt way too cold for comfort. “You can’t sleep in here.”, he noted, frowning heavily but deciding against commenting on Jason’s choice of escape-route.

“’s fine.”, his son mumbled, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders. “Gonna get warmer.”

Bruce sighed again, gently placing Jason on the big bed after pulling the comforter back – he was probably right. The room was not big enough to take longer than a few minutes to heat back up, but he turned the radiator up to full power anyways, just to make sure, before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Jason had already buried himself under a pile of blankets, only his pale, flushed face sticking out, eyes blinking tiredly up at him.

“’M not dumb, y’know?”, he said before Bruce could even begin to sort out his racing thoughts. “Alfred wasn’t here t’ whole time. None of you were. Double checked.”

Bruce swallowed, grimacing slightly and then steeling himself for a conversation that he would rather not have in the middle of the night, with an injured, sick kid. He turned on the bedside lamp anyways, watching Jason carefully. “No. None of us were.”

“So what?”, Jason asked, voice weak and scratchy but not sleepy at all anymore. “Secret party for only non-street-trashy peeps?”

“Jason, no.”, Bruce said, eyes wide, even if that did not really come as a huge surprise. He still felt his heartrate spike, because he _needed_ to tell him now. Needed to get the truth out there as a true testimony to how he fails at keeping the people around him safe no matter what he tries – because he already know how it would go from here on, even if he hoped that Jason would know better than his siblings and his father. “It’s nothing like that.”

“Something you’d rather do without me.”

“Something I want to _protect_ you from.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need anyone’s protection.”, he said, suddenly all mistrust and indignation and Bruce could not handle a fight over this. Not like that and not right now.

“I don’t care what you think you need.”, he hissed out, body tense and voice mirroring that. “I _need_ you safe. You… all of you… I can’t have anything happen to you.”

Jason watched him, face seemingly impassive, but without any trace of the anger that had been there only seconds ago.

“I should have told you the truth though.”, Bruce continued, watching his son carefully. He could not believe that he was actually doing this. It was unavoidable and clearly needed, but it still felt like a big mistake – a lot like giving up control. “I wasn’t here because I was in Gotham. With Dick and Cass and… and Tim and Damian.”

“Okay?”

“But… Jason. Did you- did you wonder why Batman knew, with absolute certainty, that everyone here was safe?”

Jason stared up at him. “Cuz… he’s your bitch?”, he said slowly. “It’s what Victor always said. Dunno what it means, but ‘s why I went to him.”

Bruce coughed out a startled laugh at that, the situation immediately loosing a lot of it’s tenseness.

“No, it’s… _I_ am Batman.


	13. Big Bat Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did actually proof-read- and edit this chapter, which makes me super-proud of myself but also shows that I'm doing none of the things that I SHOULD be doing, like studying HAHA (It also makes every mistake you find a lot more embarassing, but please feel free to point them out anyways!!) :( Really hope that you enjoy this though - I love all of your sweet comments and cannot thank you enough!!! :)

Jason was starting to really doubt the sanity of those fucking people, because who in their right mind would _ever_ claim to be Batman? And the worst thing was, that the guy’s words were actually pretty believable – there had been signs and stuff and Jason wouldn’t put it past them all to be involved in some gigantic vigilante-business or something. He had only known them for a couple of weeks, but they definitely seemed the type to do shit like that – with their huge mansion and their suspicious secrecy and stuff.

Bruce’s eyes were boring into his like he was expecting **him** to take the lead here, even though his mind felt completely blank – like he was in some sort of weird vacuum, unable to differentiate between reality and fiction. He could not follow up on _that_. What was he even supposed to say?!

They were still staring at each other – must have been doing exactly that for _minutes_ – when the statement finally registered in his brain. _Really_ registered, that is. It was like someone had doused him with ice-cold water and he heard himself gasp loudly, causing Bruce to actually look taken aback.

“I can’t believe how much sense that makes.”, he eventually stutters, clutching the blanket close as if it were some kind of special anchor keeping him grounded. He thought about his first- or second night in the manor – about Bruce suddenly being in his room, by his bed, all dressed like he was on his way to do some serious ass-kicking. How he had thought that he had dreamt it all, because the alternative was way too laughable to even consider. Also, their weird obsession with Batman, that had resulted in his closet practically full with merchandise – he could barely avoid wearing anything that _didn’t_ have a giant bat printed across it somewhere. It felt frighteningly obvious now – it all fit perfectly and he suddenly could not believe that he was stupid enough to not see through it right away.

“Are you alright?”, Bruce asked, leaning in a bit closer, his hands hovering near his for a fraction of a second before they sank back onto his blanket uselessly. He was still watching him intently and Jason still felt an intense amount of pressure to react the way he clearly was expected to do – he just could not figure out _how_ that was.

“Think so.”, he nodded, his entire body still feeling tingly and weird – and yeah, he had felt weird before – Alfred said that the fever was doing that to him – but it was nothing compared to this. And then he suddenly realized, that Bruce was looking just as terrified as he felt, so there might not even _be_ a proper way to react – he did not know whether that should make him even more anxious or less. “That why no one was here before?”

Bruce’s face did more weird things and he sighed heavily, shifting around the way his mom sometimes did when she had spent their food-money on drugs again – when she was feeling _guilty_. It did not really make sense, because Bruce did not have any reason to feel guilty – it was not like Jason didn’t know how to handle himself when he was alone for a couple of hours. He had spent a year only relying on himself, damn it, he should have been able to stay fucking calm. It was his fault, really, freaking out like a baby and fucking everything up, like he usually did – he knew he did, because Bruce did not look anything like someone who was willingly sharing his biggest secret with him, which meant that the man believed that he was obligated to because Jason practically forced him to with his whole dramatic escape from the manor. He was wallowing in those self-deprecating thoughts when Bruce surprised him by actually taking one of his hands in the two of his: “Yes. It’s… I’m so sorry, Jason. It should not have happened and I never wanted you to get hurt like this.”

“It’s alright.”, Jason said, feeling confused and overwhelmed, because why the hell was Bruce _apologizing_ to him now?

“It’s really not.”, the man said, self-loathingly, and Jason furrowed his eyebrows and tried sitting up a bit straighter, even if that made his muscles ache worse. “I just wanted to… to protect you from that life. You got hurt anyways and that’s not okay, Jason.”

Jason shrank back a bit, feeling – to his absolute horror – tears welling up in his eyes. This was all a bit too much – this stupid family with all of their stupid secrets and their stupid apologies and all of their stupid kindness and misplaced worry. He tried to pull himself together, succeeding for probably a fraction of a second, before he felt a sob catch in his throat making him whimper pathetically and then break into a painful coughing fit. It _really_ hurt, especially because he was already so worn down and weepy and he felt himself being hauled into a full sitting-position, hands rubbing over his back and steadying him simultaneously until the coughing tapered off and he was left with only ragged sobs. Then he managed to really pull himself together, trying to get his breathing under control again and angrily wiping over the tear-streaks on his cheeks.

Bruce looked really unhappy when Jason eventually turned his gaze back onto him. “Sorry.”, he gasped out and it only made Bruce’s frown deepen.

“That sounded bad.”, he noted. “You weren’t coughing like this before.”

Jason scoffed as well as he could without also rolling his eyes, because everyone here always took things way too seriously – he had been way sicker than this a lot of times and no one had ever been worried about it; maybe his Mom way before, when she could still hold up all pretences of them being a happy family. “Yeah.”, he said. “Your big bat secret really fucked with my lungs.”

But Bruce did not even seem to listen to him, which was fair, because Jason knew that people always found it odd that he could flip a switch on his emotions like this – or at least be able to pretend to do so. “I should call Leslie.”, the man muttered and Jason distantly recognized that name to belong to the comforting doctor that took his blood and stuff a couple of weeks before. Jason frowned, still trapped between Bruce’s big hands that did not seem to be letting go of him anytime soon – which, oddly enough, did not make him nearly as uncomfortable as he thought it should.

“I’m fine.”, he insisted, because he definitely felt mostly okay now that he seemed to have gotten most of the shit out of his lungs – or, at least, he did not feel any worse than he did a few minutes ago. “It’s just a cough.”

“I would like someone to take a look at you.”, Bruce frowned, not looking any happier or reassured in the slightest. “You’re clearly not fine and we can’t take any-“

“You just don’t wanna talk about the whole Batman-thing!”, Jason interrupted him accusingly, because the man looked ready to call emergency services on him and it really made him panic – also, there definitely were more important things to do right now. And yes, their previous conversation might be dangerous territory too, because it had literally made him cry – and that was just because Bruce had shown some kind of concern for him instead of getting mad, like he had expected – but it was still better than letting the guy fuss over him like this. “That’s not somethin’ you can just brush over!”

And Bruce actually had the audacity to sigh, but he did settle down a bit less tensely, so Jason counted it as a big win. “You’re pretty sick buddy, I don’t want to stress you out further.”, he said, obviously already regretting telling him about his biggest secret. “You had a long day. We can talk more about it tomorrow or, ideally, when you’re better.”

“Don’t just leave me alone with this.”, Jason said then, before his mind could even catch up with his mouth. “I need… You can’t just leave now.”

It was pitiful and a bit embarrassing, if you thought about it, but Jason knew he won because Bruce was suddenly looking pretty guilty. “I won’t.”, the man said, voice barely above a whisper. “Of course, I won’t.”

He settled back down then and they sat in silence for a few seconds, both probably too shaken up about the way this conversation was going – because it really, _really_ was not going that well for either of them, was it? “So… Batman, huh?”, Jason rasped eventually, not really sure how to proceed from here now that he knew that Bruce was actually willing to stay and talk to him about this, but not saying anything did not feel right either.

Bruce nodded, watching him carefully and Jason desperately hoped that he would not have another breakdown about this, because three a day would definitely be three times _more_ embarrassing than just _one_ , if you believed in John Napier’s theories. Jason nodded too, because mirroring other people always seemed like a safe thing to do. “That’s pretty cool.”, he said then, genuinely in awe, because didn’t that kind of mean that his _dad_ was a superhero?

“I’m glad you think so.”, Bruce smiled and Jason smiled back lightly before they fell into awkward silence again. Jason realized that he was too exhausted to come up with any profound questions – everything important felt like it had already been said and he sort of wanted to sleep and not think about embarrassing himself in front of the whole family because he had been too stupidly scared too even consider for a second that he could just wait a few hours before running off to Gotham in his idiotic mission of finding Batman.

His eyes fluttered shut, but he forced them open again with the sheer force of will, because while he did not necessarily want to have a long talk with Bruce now, he definitely did not want to be alone either. He refused to admit to it, but thinking that everything had gone missing had shaken him to the core and he did not really feel better about it in the slightest, even if he now knew that he had just overreacted. “Do you want to try and get some sleep?”, Bruce asked him, voice careful and cautious – probably trying to avoid another breakdown. “Just… you seem tired.”

“I…”, Jason started, not sure what to say, because he did not want to be alone, but he could not exactly admit to that now, could he? It would be selfish, really, forcing Bruce to stay just because he was apparently being especially whiny today. Then, he deflated slightly, because how could he even think about Bruce staying as an actual possibility? “… yeah.”

Bruce was looking at him in a very odd way and it made Jason quickly look away, trying to shake off the protective arm that was still wrapped around his shoulders even if he did not really want it gone. “Okay.”, Bruce said slowly before he actually did remove his arm, moving to stand up, even if a bit hesitantly. “Do you need something else?”

Jason shook his head, laying down and curling up slightly, still facing Bruce. “No, thank you.”, he said. It was all a bit much, and there were hundreds of questions floating through his head, but he knew that Bruce’s earlier statement was kind of right – there would be more than enough time to have them answered tomorrow, when he was actually able to keep his eyes open.

Bruce just stood there for a while, that strange look still on his face like he was waiting for something or trying to build up the courage to say something himself. It was unsettling, because with every passing moment, Jason actually felt like saying something himself – something stupid, like begging the man to stay with him or something. He would not do that though, because that might not go over well; not a second time anyways, and he did not want Bruce to think that he was being clingy.

Then, the moment was gone and Bruce suddenly turned around, stiffly moving to walk out of the room. “Good night Jason.”, he said lowly, when he was nearly out of the door. “Wake someone up if you’re feeling worse, yeah?”

“Good night.”, Jason mumbled, simultaneously glad and sorrowful about not having asked Bruce to stay and creepily watch him sleep, hearing the door close with a near-silent thud and he was too tired to even reach out to turn off the lamp on his bedside table, ending up just rolling over and falling asleep before he could even worry about being alone now.

He woke up to someone shaking him awake, which had not happened ever before here in the manor, because they either gave him enough privacy to wake up on his own or, when he was in danger of possibly oversleeping and being late for school, knocked on his door at the most. It was much appreciated, because sleep obviously was his most vulnerable state and he hated people being around to take advantage of that. It was probably why the hand on his shoulder startled him as badly as it did and he jerked up, gasping like he had inhaled lakes worth of water.

“Sorry, Jay.”, someone on his right said and he knew that it was Dick before he even turned his head. “Leslie is here to take a look at you.”

He furrowed his brow, still feeling incredibly sleepy even if though there was bright sunlight shining through his bedrooms window. He blinked, turning his head back to Dick, who was looking a little worried, which, in turn, made him kind of uncomfortable, because Dick did not usually look like that. He swallowed heavily, feeling strangely detached and fuzzy, spotting Bruce animatedly talking to the doctor-lady in the background, just outside of his room. “Huh?”, he heard himself say before breaking off suddenly, coughing heavily a couple of times and gasping at how much it made his chest hurt.

Dick was next to him on the bed suddenly, pulling up close and rubbing his back reassuringly, which kind of really helped, thankfully. “Bruce is freaking out.”, the older boy whispered conspiratorially, even if his grin looked a bit forced. “A true mother-hen.”

“Why?”, Jason asked, voice equally low, but a lot hoarser. He glanced to his right side again and the clock over the door told him that is was already well into the afternoon, which was strange, because he usually never slept in that late.

“You know him.”, Dick shrugged, pulling him in a bit closer. “Parent’s job to worry, y’know? Us kids get to really milk those things – there will be so many movies! And you can totally get Alfie to get you all the ice-cream you want… probably! Also, no school!”

Jason smiled slightly. “I like school.”, he confessed then, like it was some big secret – which it definitely wasn’t, because all people in the manor had seen- and ridiculed him about how happy school days made him, even if he still had not figured the whole friends-thing out. He had not told his family that, of course, because it would make him seem like even more of a loser, and he would really hate that – it was not even that he wasn’t trying to find friends, it was more the issues of rich kids having been taught to not associate with people like him. He could not even blame them, but it was still annoying.

“I know you do, you little freak.”, Dick said, but he sounded incredibly fond, so Jason chose not to be offended by that. “Forcing Damian to get you your boring school-stuff will probably be the most fun I’ll _ever_ have!”

“Such a sweet sentiment.”, Jason muttered, but it made him grin, because it was what Damian deserved, really. And besides, it could not fall back onto him, because the little Demon could not possibly hate him any _more_ than he did now. “He’ll set it all on fire.”

He could feel Dick chuckle due to the vibration of the strong chest he was snuggled up against. “Probably, yeah.”, he admitted, and it only made Jason grin even wider. “Alfie’s picking him up right now, so we won’t have to wait too long to see, huh?”

Then, out of the corner of his eyes, Jason could see Bruce and Leslie moving towards them, Bruce immediately kneeling down in front of the bed, making a big show of feeling his forehead and frowning heavily and – true to Dick’s words – looking all freaked out and worn down. “He’s burning up!”, Bruce hissed, turning an accusing glare back at Leslie, who merely rolled her eyes tiredly. “That’s exactly why I called you!”

“A fever’s not necessarily a bad thing, you know.”, Leslie sighed. “Are you aware that I have a clinic full of people that can’t actually afford a private doctor to come and see their children, just because they’re obsessing over non-threatening illnesses.”

“His cough worries me!”, Bruce snapped, voice all defensive and Jason could feel Dick trying to supress another chuckle.

“Of course it does.”, Leslie said, not unkindly, before turning to him with a smile. “Jason, good to see you again.”

And Jason just smiled, feeling horribly shy all of a sudden.

Thankfully, Leslie was quick and professional without making him feel like he was actually wasting her time, which was nice of her. She also let Dick stay on the bed, even if she seemed exasperated by some of his comments – but they made Jason laugh, so maybe she just wanted to keep him comfortable in order to prevent some dramatic fallout.

It turned out that he had bronchitis, which was apparently something they would have to take seriously because of his already weakened immune-system, that put him at a greater risk of it turning into something worse. It made Bruce look a bit too smug for his liking – it also made him be sentenced to two whole weeks of bedrest, which really sucked, because he did _genuinely_ love going to school. Simultaneously, it was pretty alright, because Dick was apparently already planning on focusing entirely on Jason for that time, which was even better than school, honestly.

Leslie left and Bruce still looked very non-reassured, a bit like Jason would keel over and _die_ any second now. He was sitting on the edge of the bed just like he did last night, reaching over Dick to brush strands of hair out of his face. “I’m going to take the week off work.”, he said, brows furrowed when Jason barked out a couple of coughs.

Dick scoffed, rolling his eyes. “B, you need to chill out. Alfred and I’ll be there.”, he said and Jason made a face, because he kind of _wanted_ Bruce to spend some time with him – he would not admit to that, obviously, but it definitely was a nice thought. He did not need to do that anyways, because Bruce seemed to have already made up his mind, shaking his head and looking at Dick all disapprovingly, his hand still tangled in Jason’s hair.

“I’m staying.”, he said, in what Jason could only assume was his Batman-voice and Dick let out a heavy sigh, but did not argue any further, while Jason just felt kind of relieved.

Then Alfred came in with a tray of steaming soup and tea and a huge jug of water, making both Dick and Bruce move in order to give him room to finally eat something, which he did, because he was absolutely famished, before Dick actually did make him watch another movie. Only this time, Bruce joined them on the big couch, arm around Jason’s shoulders and joining in on their laughter at the especially hilarious scenes and it made him feel ridiculously safe and content, making the whole annoying sickness-thing not even half-bad.

It definitely made the painful cough and the fever-chills a lot more bearable – it was a bit sad that Tim had to keep his distance from him for some weird reason that he had not quite understood, but Dick found it very important to tell him that it was a good one and that Tim did not simply _not_ want to see him.

He also slept a lot, which was alright probably, because he was pretty exhausted and there was not much to do anyways. Damian could’ve apparently been forced to get him his things from school, but he barely had the energy to look at any of it – he knew most of the stuff already, anyways, but it still sucked.

It all went to shit when he woke up in the middle of the night again, for the first time in a week, chest feeling weird and the dream he’d had still fresh in his mind, making him feel shaky and really, desperately anxious. He sat up weakly, looking around the dark room, only to realize that his usual childish instinct of needing to seek someone’s comfort was winning over his resolve of being independent enough to not need anyone.

Bruce had said that he should come to him whenever there was something wrong, so _maybe_ this would count? Jason really hoped so, because there was no way that he would not wake the guy up, at this point – he was too far gone, honestly. He slipped out of bed, breathing still erratic and his whole body trembling pathetically, opening the door to his room as quietly as he could and trying his best to navigate through the darkness of the manor at night.

He was, apparently, not doing a very good job, because the hallway was suddenly bathed in light and he flinched. “Sneaking around, Todd?”, a voice sneered from behind him and he whirled around, coming face to face with Damian.

 _Great_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There might not be a new chapter next week, because I have a very important test on Friday and should potentially use all of the free time I have to prepare for that :( - BUT there definately will be another one the week after that!!!


	14. Late Night Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I am so sorry for not posting for a while there :( I had a lot on my plate and -mind and then I was just so determined to write a chapter in Damian's POV and it was an excruciatinly slow process and it probably did not turn out that great (I'm a bit unhappy about it, but I decided to finally call it a day and put all of my effort in making the next chapter better haha)... hope you still somewhat enjoy it! I am definately back on schedule now and will update next Sunday!! :)

Damian stared at the other boy as hatefully as he thought possible, practically feeling himself glow with the deep despise he held for the Todd-kid and he found that it was a real shame that the other could probably not make out the look in the all-consuming darkness of the hallway.

“I’m sorry.”, a wobbly voice rang out and Damian could see that the shadow had stopped moving rather abruptly. He could also feel the snarl escape before he could even consciously decide to let it – and rightfully so, honestly, because who even thought this guy he was? Bursting into their life’s like they all wanted him there and, in the process, actually managing to manipulate his arguably stupid family into letting him stay. Into what honestly looked like fondness for him. Damian was furious.

But Damian was not stupid – not at all, thank you very much – and he had the other boy all figured out. He knew he did – he had to have! Everything about the situation was just too sketchy and it really bothered him that everyone else seemed to just be fine with going along with Todd’s outrageous scheme. It was almost like they were that desperate to replace him (but he honestly did not want to ever think about that too much, because that just seemed slightly unpleasant).

Now, he knew that apologizing meant feeling guilty, so he guessed that he was maybe finally getting somewhere here. “What for?”, he barked, seeing the other boy shrink away slightly. Good. “What are you doing out here this late, Todd?”

The other boy appeared to be embarrassed instead of flustered at being caught red-handed, but Damian decided not to dwell on that. Minor details, anyways, when the big picture was to finally be able to prove to everyone that he had been right all along and that having Todd stay at the manor could only mean danger.

“I-“, came the small voice, eventually. It sounded unsure and hesitant, like it’s owner had no idea what to stutter out next. “I was gonna go to B.”, was eventually whispered and Damian narrowed his eyes. That was bound to mean impending danger, but it was odd that Todd would just admit to trying to sneak into father’s room in the middle of the night – he was not usually showing any sort of reaction to Damian’s harsh prodding.

“In order to do what?!”, he snapped harshly, because what would have happened to his father had he not gone to investigate the strange sounds he had heard from the room next to his. “What were you going to do to him?!”

“I’m sorry.”, Todd whimpered yet again and that seemed to be as good as a confession as he was going to get out of the shaking mess in front of him. It was a bit pathetic, really, that someone had this kid, of all people, to do the dirty work for them – he was scrawny at best, a good head smaller than Damian himself, not at all able to hide what he was feeling and, even worse, never not saying what he was thinking. Damian knew not to underestimate people though, and he needed to decide carefully what he was going to do next.

It was difficult to predict the boy in front of him, because he rarely did what Damian expected him to and he never ever did what Damian himself was taught to do in similar situations. He could not quite figure the whole, clearly elaborate plan out and it bothered him greatly, because it really should not be this hard – maybe Todd was just an even better actor than he thought. Carefully gaining the full trust of those around him and fooling every single one of them in the process, because he just never once broke character. And YES, why had the kid not snapped under his pressure yet?!

“You’re pathetic.”, was the first thing he said, voicing his own thoughts out loud. “But working awfully smart, I’ll give you that – yourself and that wretched mother of yours.”

“Stop… stop saying stuff about my Mom.”, Todd whispered. “She did nothing wrong.”

“Denial.”, Damian snapped, because he had been there once too, years and years ago. “Don’t do that to yourself. Get away from the bitch or get away from us.”

A deep sob cutting harshly through the darkness. “I… what? Why are you being so mean?”

“Yes, I am the one in the wrong.”, Damian bit out in clear sarcasm that he hoped Todd was not dull enough to miss. The crying got louder and more desperate – certainly much more annoying – and Todd failed at every attempt at soothing himself. A child through and through and Damian despised that he sometimes wished that he was still able to express himself that freely.

“I- I don’t get ya.”, the boy whimpered out, both arms wrapped tightly around himself – probably in some sort of desperate attempt to soothe himself. “You’re Robin. You’re supposed to be nice.”

“Only towards good people!”, Damian snarls, with heat, because he is still bitter about Bruce just giving away their biggest secret like that – honestly, present that man with a child in seeming trouble and he just lost all sense. Damian still doubted that stupid paternity-test greatly – did no one care to think about all of the ways that those could be faked?!

He watches Todd shrink back in satisfaction, but he cannot bask in his victory for long, because the hallway is suddenly bathed in a bright light and both boys look away squinting.

“What is going on here?”, a deep, though slightly sleepy, voice seemed to surprise not only Damian, but also Jason, who tried to stop crying rather abruptly, but not at all successfully. Bruce.

“Father.”, Damian nods, having recovered from the shock first. “Todd is planning an attack.”

A heavy sigh, while Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose as Jason geared up to come up with some sort of excuse. “Is he now?”, Damian’s father drawled out in obvious frustration and he sputtered in indignation, because how was he still being doubted even now, that he had caught the Todd-boy red-handed.

“’M not!”, Jason protested, voice wobbly, before he broke into a sort of violent-sounding coughing fit – not that Damian cared, really, because him and that scrawny weak body of his had brought that one onto himself. “Please, Bruce, I- I was jus-“

“You need to calm down, Jay.”, Bruce said slowly and Jason whimpers again, before throwing himself forwards to have a proper, self-pitying cry in Damian’s father’s arms. He scoffed. How was father still not seeing what was going on here?!

“I jus’ had a bad dream.”, Jason gasped out then, and Damian could see the way Bruce’s arms tightened around bony shoulders. “Sorry… know it’s stupid, but…”, he broke off, coughing again and Damian’s hand went up to his own chest-area subconsciously, because he had to admit that it sounded rough and painful and he could tell from his father’s heavy frown that he was worried.

“Shhh…”, Bruce tried too soothe, hand buried in messy curls but his gaze focused on Damian’s eyes in clear unhappiness. “Damian. Explain, please.”

It sounded harsh and he felt the anger drain from him in an instant, because he might have messed up with this one. Might have misinterpreted the signs and jumped to wrong conclusions too quickly, because it did not look like Todd was in any shape to make any sort of vicious attack that night. The stupid kid had outsmarted him again – or maybe, just maybe, his own hatefulness was affecting his ability to properly judge and classify situations; but it did not mean that the other boy was not still up to something, generally speaking.

“I… might have made a mistake.”, he ground out, because he knew that one had to admit defeat when one’s main argument had become futile. His own eyes started stinging, all of a sudden, to his great horror, and he saw the way his father’s eyes softened.

There was another heavy sigh. “Oh boys, this really needs to stop.”, Bruce muttered, before looking down at the kid still buried into his light nightshirt and pressed tightly against his sweatpants-clad legs. “Let’s get you back to bed, huh?”

“No!”, Jason gasped out, before immediately starting to cough again, which was getting kind of annoying, honestly. He was gasping for breath at the end of the fit, but did not seem worried about that as he was vehemently shaking his head, looking at Bruce pleadingly.

“Right.”, father frowned, hand now on Jason’s back. “How about we camp out on the couch then, hm?” Pathetic, Damian thought, because how did this kid just continue to get everyone around him to do exactly what he wanted them to?

Todd looked up, lip wobbling dangerously. “Can we watch a movie?”, he whispered weakly and Damian had to look away, feeling his anger return.

“Yeah.”, Bruce agreed. “Of course, we can. But meds first. And we need to find that damn thermometer, you’re burning up.”

His father was clearly worried and it made Damian feel weird and the stinging in his eyes still had not gone away and he took a careful step back when Todd, of all people, was suddenly staring right at him. “You wanna come watch too?”, he asked, sounding incredibly unsure and looking away quickly, fumbling with his own nightshirt nervously.

And what the hell was he trying to do now?! Damian’s eyebrows narrowed further and he could practically feel the tension exuding from Bruce in waves.

“Over my dead body.”, he snapped, angrily, not caring about hurting any feelings because screw Todd and his weird manipulation-tactics.

“Oh.”, Jason mumbled. “Just thought… Cuz you’re awake too and all. You’d like the Lion King for sure.”

“How would you know?”, Damian growled, Bruce’s eyes boring into him. He sometimes did wonder whether he would enjoy those ridiculous movies the others subjected themselves to – he liked to think that he would not, but everyone else in the world seemed to and he had never really seen one before; besides, of course, the weird documentaries they forced him to watch in school sometimes. He had shut Grayson down vehemently whenever he had suggested watching a film together and now, when he saw Todd and him amusing themselves greatly with them, Damian really did not know why he felt that stabbing sense of jealously.

“Bruce and Dick get real sad whenever you miss movie-nights, y’know?”, Todd had the audacity to mutter before turning on his heels and trudging towards the direction of the stairs that led to the living room, leaving him fuming yet again.

He turned to look at his father, who seemed painfully disappointed. “You need to stop this, Dami.”, he sighed, looking over his shoulder at Todd’s retreating form for a second. “This isn’t necessary, you know?”

“He might have you fooled, but I refuse to let myself-“

“Stop, Damian, don’t do this, please. We’re a family, alright?”, Bruce interrupted him, voice stern and cutting. “Jason is a part of it just a much as you are, and he want’s you to be his big brother really desperately, you know? Who his mother is and what she did… it’s not _his_ fault. You should know this better than all of us.”

Damian clenched his fists tightly. “I am merely stating that it is a bit suspicious that he-“

“What did my mom do?”, a small voice behind Bruce asked and Damian could see his father stiffen, turning around slowly to face the small form of Todd, now huddled in a big blanket and looking so confused that Damian nearly found it in himself to feel sorry for him, for a small moment.


	15. A Whole Mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On schedule!!! but sadly have not been able to answer comments yet, though I have read them all - you guys are so so sweet and I really love to be able to get your thoughts and opinions on the chapters! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Damian watched his father turn around slowly – tensely – and then focused his attention on the boy in front of them, who was still frozen on the spot, confusion written all over his pale face.

This was getting interesting now, because how was Todd expecting to talk himself out of everything they had against his mother? Damian could appreciate the effort – it was smart, really: acting like he did not knot what was going on so that they would not suspect any involvement of his, while he still got information on what they already knew about everything. It made Damian hate the kid more and somehow less at the same time – he had to recognize the consistency of the innocent-little-boy-act, that was just frighteningly good.

“We should not do this right now.”, Bruce muttered, and Damian was positive that Todd was not supposed to hear that, but he evidently did, because he tensed up, suddenly looking frustrated.

“He is always saying mean things ‘bout her too!”, he accused hoarsely then, pointing a finger in his direction and locking eyes with Damian. “I jus’ wanna understand.”

“Jason…”, his father said, already kneeling down in order to be on eye-level with his other son. Damian clenched his fists at what had become a pretty familiar picture in the manor lately – Bruce had been like that with him too, in the beginning, but Damian had shut that down nearly immediately. Seeing his father now successfully doing the same thing with Todd should not make him as bitter as it did.

“Please.”, the boy pleaded and Damian nearly rolled his eyes at the dramatics of it all – he settled with a displeased frown though, because something about this did not feel right and he would only later realize that this was his first inkling of doubt. His first subconscious thought of there being a chance that Todd really was innocent.

“We cannot do this right now.”, Bruce sighed, obviously troubled by the tears now cascading down Jason’s cheeks. “It’s not the right time, Jay.”

“I’m asking him then.”, Todd snapped, suddenly furious but looking absolutely non-threatening with the blanket still basically swallowing his trembling frame. Damian only belatedly realized, that Jason’s finger was being pointed at him yet again. “He’ll tell me for sure! Hates me enough to do it at any time, if it’s real bad.”

“I would.”, Damian heard himself say, feeling Bruce’s unhappy gaze snap to him all at once, the man hissing out a very clear prohibition in his direction, which was something that never particularly impressed Damian. He focused his attention on Todd instead. This was his opportunity, because this could technically be considered as being directly asked to confront Jason and that was good enough for him – it meant that he was finally able to maybe get something out of the boy, which was something he had been waiting for weeks now already. “She is doing business with the Joker – a grand scheme, from what we found out. You must be such a proud son.”

Jason looked startled, but not in the way Damian expected him to – not like he was being unravelled before their very eyes and more in a sad, lost kind of way. “My Mum’s dead.”, he whispered then, like he had a dozen times before, whenever Damian had cornered him about Sheila Haywood. It was frustrating and by now, Damian was frustrated enough to force anything he could out of him.

“Sadly not.”, he bit out. “Not yet, anyways.”

“Damian!”, Bruce snapped, horrified and probably really unhappy about not being in control of the situation anymore.

“I know that she is, you arrogant shit.”, Todd bit back, clearly beyond angry now, with tears still streaming down his face before dripping off of his sharp chin and vanishing on the blanket. “Cuz’ I was the one who found her.”

Then, he full on burst into tears, startling both Damian and Bruce and obviously himself too, but he did not seem to be able to calm himself down, taking panicked, wheezing breaths between sobs that had his father scrambling around him in a desperate try to fix something he did not know how to fix. He settled on hugging the other boy eventually, patting his back as if that would somehow make the deep coughs disappear and Damian had no idea why this was making _him_ feel so bad. And in the back of his mind, he remembered that Bruce and Jason did seem to frequent the Gotham graveyard a lot over the past couple of weeks – he had followed them once, but nothing suspicious had seemed to be going on, so he had let it go – and he knew that someone in Todd’s life had apparently died, but he knew for a fact that it was not the person that he was talking about.

“Stop lying, Todd. Sheila Haywood is alive – I have been monitoring her activities for weeks.”, Damian forced out, trying to speak over the pathetic whimpers in a last attempt to save his dignity. But the message that Damian was totally onto him still did not seem to get fully through to Jason, because he did not stop his hysterics, but looked bewildered now.

“The fuck’s Sheila Haywood?”, he gasped out after a while, when he had managed to get his breathing under control at least a little bit. He sounded genuinely confused and Damian’s thoughts flickered between contacting someone working on Broadway immediately, because acting talent like Jason’s should not be wasted on life as a criminal and feeling the dawning realization that the boy might not be pretending after all. 

“Jason…”, Bruce tried to break the situation up again, glaring at Damian in a way that he had never done before – like he had not brought this onto himself. “It’s really complicated.”

“Your mother.”, Damian said, because he always finished the things that he started and he was not weak-minded enough to back out of this situation now – besides, it really was not that complicated. “The one that gave birth to you. It even says so, on the certificate.”

Jason’s face fell some, but it did not seem like he really understood what was implied – like he was still missing a major piece of the puzzle or did not dare to even think about the statement at all. “I’m not…”, was all he managed to choke out before he broke into sobs again, hiding his face in Bruce’s shoulder and shaking his head relentlessly; like he understood, even if he could not fully comprehend it yet, that this was bad news.

And Damian stood there watching, contemplating – because Bruce had said, when Todd first burst into their lives, that he had grown up with another woman, right? The one that Damian had accused him of lying about from the very beginning, something that he had been convinced of up until that very moment. He had just never even considered the possibility that to Todd, Sheila Haywood might be nothing but a name on a document that he had never held in his hands before – that he had never known that he’d been growing up far from his birth mother. Father had definitely believed that that was the case from the very start – it just did not seem like a logical conclusion at the time, but – to his horror – it seemed quite reasonable now.

Guilt was a strange sensation, and he hated it with a passion, but it seemed to spread through his body nonetheless, along with the intense feeling of embarrassment.

“What’s going on?”, another voice suddenly asked before he could dwell on everything too much, snapping Damian out of his thoughts. He turned just in time to see Dick standing in the door of his room, looking sleepy and confused and he felt even more cornered, because his oldest brother somehow seemed to be even more protective of Todd than his father was, which was really saying something. The feeling of having messed up grew stronger and he was too smart to cling onto the theory of Jason’s complicity in the crimes of his mother – it was embarrassing, honestly, and he did not want another person to witness his reality crumbling.

“Jay?” Dick looked less overtired and a lot more concerned now, taking a couple of steps forwards and keeping his eyes trained on Bruce, who was still trying to console his son. He came to a stand right beside Damian, putting a hand on his shoulder and turning his eyes onto him – it felt foreboding as well as strangely comforting. “You guys fighting again?”

“There was a… slight dispute.”, he said, carefully and Dick only sighed heavily, looking disappointed and sad, but he did not take his hand off Damian’s shoulder.

“I have not told you everything, Jay.”, Bruce said then, slowly, both hands on Todd’s thin arms, holding on like the boy was about to keel over without the support. “But-“

“I…”, Jason started hoarsely, breaking off to clear his throat noisily. “I really don’t think I wanna know anymore.”

“Right.”, Bruce agreed, looking relieved, and even the toes on Damian’s feet seemed to be filled with regret by now. Dick threw him a questioning look, that he did not bother to reward with an explanation.

There were a couple of seconds of tense silence. “Can we still watch the movie?”, Jason whispered then, arms now wrapped around himself and eyes sliding over to Damian briefly, before he seemed to notice Dick.

“Of course.”, his father said. “Of course, buddy.” Then, he too, looked over at his second eldest son. “Damian, could you please go and wake Alfred? Tell him that Jason’s not feeling great.”

Damian felt himself nod slowly, still stunned by how quickly everything had crumbled and burned, before he turned around to fulfil the task, hearing Dick and Bruce exchange a few ineligible words in the background and Todd’s sniffles, that seemed to follow him all the way to Alfred’s bedroom.

He knocked with a hand that he only just then noticed was shaking and patiently waited behind the closed door, because he knew that the butler would not take long to get ready and deal with the messed-up situation that they had found themselves in. Alfred opened the door only minutes later, when Damian had somewhat managed to pull himself together, refusing to think too much about everything that had just taken place.

“Master Damian, what-“

“Todd’s unwell.”, he blurted out, to get it over with. “Father sent me to get you.”

If Alfred was phased by that, he did not really show it, and neither did he question what Damian was doing awake, which was a blessing. He only nodded, eyebrows furrowed slightly, before asking Damian to lead him to the others.

It would probably have been easier to just tell Alfred that they were probably already in the main living room, fussing over Todd, whom he had just personally further traumatized, but some weird, twisted part of him wanted to see how everything played out. Maybe it was just him being unnecessarily cruel to himself, by confronting himself with what he had caused by just… assuming. He just wished that he had taken some time to maybe reconsider, but the past weeks with Jason in the house had been a blur of bitterness and jealousy and it seemed to have dampened his senses of deduction.

He felt almost apathetic as he simply stood in the large double-door that led to the living room after having accompanied Alfred there, watching Todd cry and sniffle and occasionally cough, with Bruce and Dick by his side. He could not help but feel like he had blown all chances of ever having something like Jason did – he was too tense and serious, just the opposite of the boy’s easy charm and childish playfulness that had put him in the spot that Damian could have been in, had he been a better person, in only weeks. And with Todd there, where would he fit in? Especially after having caused so much harm – his eyes were starting to burn suspiciously again, but he barely cared.

Jason was declared on the mend, but exhausted and shaken up by Alfred, which was probably a good thing, because he coughs had sounded pretty nasty – Bruce did not seem to reassured by the news, apparently having wanted to rush Todd to the hospital and being bitter about being denied the notion, but he rarely did when he was not able to immediately fix something.

Then Alfred left to put on a kettle of tea and Damian was still rooted in his spot by the door, silently watching the three people on the sofa, who seemed to be painfully comfortable around each other. Happy, despite it all. He swallowed and Todd turned his head, eyes suddenly on him, before pointing to the empty spot next to Bruce with a reluctant, small smile.

Damian shook his head. Then, he turned on his heels and ~~fled~~ left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooof, so there it is: the second big reveal... kind of. It was difficult to write, because it's 1. still in Damians perspective and 2. super messy, because there are so many obstacles - that's why I thought it would be best to make it some sort of half-reveal, which can be revisited later, though I geniuenly believe that Jay really would be better off not knowing :(( Also, I'm so sorry Damian!!!! :((( Obviously the family and I totally love him, even if he cannot love himself - but things will get better for him! 
> 
> I don't know how many chapters more there'll be, but there are still a couple of things I want to write!! :)


	16. Important Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS, I KNOW, and I feel so so so bad!! :( I have had a lot of things going on and the times are crazy and awful and it can get to overwhelming sometimes - which was all the more reason why I always thought about this story and wanted to put out something that might distract someone a tiny bit from the chaos around them, but writing was just so painfully slow and I feel like this chapter shows that it was written in many many sessions, but I just wanted to give you all SOMETHING. This story will be finished, I promise, and I am back now! I am very grateful for every comment or other sign of appreciation that I get from you - you are all so lovely! Thank you so so so much!!!!!

Jason felt like it took ages before he finally felt better – at least enough to make it further than from his bed to the couch and back. It did nothing to stop Bruce’s or Dick’s hovering and while it did feel nice to not having to deal with stuff like that alone anymore, it was a bit disconcerting to constantly have someone fretting over him. They barely respected boundaries on a normal day, but now they were just constantly there, looking at him like they were expecting him to just drop dead and treating him accordingly.

He loved the feeling of being loved, but it was weird that especially Bruce was just willing to drop everything for him – his dad was _Batman_ (and boy, he still needed to get used to that), after all. And also, weirdly enough, some big-shot business-man. Apparently, he valued none of that over sitting by Jason’s bedside and doing weird movie-family-things like feeding him soup or reading to him – at least not, he had explained to Jason, when the others could handle things fine by themselves.

He was betting that Damian hated every aspect of the attention he was given. And the other boy was already despising him enough as it was, but judging by the looks he was giving him whenever he was dropping off Jason’s schoolwork (which Dick had apparently followed through in making him do), he was actually _wanting_ him to drop dead.

He did not though, thankfully, because not being in school was stressing him out way more than he expected it to – not because he particularly missed the people there, but because he felt like he was seriously falling behind, and that was just unacceptable. Bruce had looked _so_ proud when he had done well on his first test, and he never wanted that to ever go away.

“I want to go back to school.”, he told Alfred that evening, when he was lounging on the couch, a big fuzzy blanket covering him from chin to toe. “Please?”

Alfred frowned, only slightly, and eyed him sceptically. “And are you well enough to follow through with that plan, Master Jason?”, he asked, in the tone of someone who always knew best and was also very annoying about it

“Yes.”, he replied, a little too eagerly. “You said so, this morning, remember? That my fever was gone.”

“ _Almost_ gone.”, Alfred reminded him patiently, sitting down on the edge of the couch. “There is a difference there. I want you to be fever-free for at least a day before we can consider you attending school again, young Sir.”

“But-“

“Jay, enjoy your freedom for as long as you can.”, Dick chimed in from beside him, frowning unhappily, as he and Bruce always did when Jason brought up going back to school - especially when he made the mistake of arguing that he had done more strenuous things than school while feeling worse than he did now. That really did not go over well at all. “Besides, you can’t go back now, we still have half of Harry Potter to go through I refuse to let you go anywhere before we finish those.”

“I’m being held captive.”, he sighed dramatically, taking a sip of his still warm tea and putting on his best pouting face.

“Stop saying that.”, Dick scolded, an equal pout painting his face. “This is precious brotherly bonding time.”, he said. “And you are to love it.”

He did, kind of, but he would never admit that, because that would throw off their entire dynamic and might even make him sound needy – still though, it did not change the fact that he would rather be in school.

It was the reason why he got out of bed early the morning after the day that Alfred had officially declared him fever-free, trying to make himself look presentable after days of basically just lying around before. His hair was a mess, and he would probably need Alfred in order to have even the slightest chance of taming it, but it felt nice to finally be able to wear his fancy clothes again.

Bruce was shooting him calculating looks over breakfast, eying his school uniform unhappily between the dangerous side-eyes he made at Alfred, who was the one who had, to his great delight, put his foot down about Jason being well enough to attend school again. Jason was glad about it, because he had started to suspect that Bruce was planning on just imprisoning him in the manor forever, which would be _boring_ , because there were only so many movies Dick and him could watch.

He smiled at his dad, in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, between two bites of cereal, but it did nothing to make the man look any happier, so Jason just shrugged and turned his attention back to Dick, who was making a big show of dressing his pancakes up with pieces of grapes and strawberries. Dick had not been on board with him going back to school too, but he had caved at Jason’s special-brand puppy-dog eyes that seemed to work marvellously on his oldest brother – of course, Alfred’s insistence on the matter had helped greatly as well.

Tim was finally able to go near him again too – he previously could not, because of some kind of health-issue that Jason could not even begin to try and understand and Jason had really missed spending time with him. Tim was awesome at everything that one could possibly imagine doing on a computer and he seemed fully happy to show Jason everything he knew – it was honestly pretty cool and Jason had missed it in the time that they were avoiding each other.

All in all, it was pretty nice to not feel shitty again and he hoped that he was not too much behind in his classes – he spent the remainder of his breakfast on going over his home-delivered homework instead of paying attention to Bruce and Dick or the glares that Damian was sending his way.

“And you’re sure that you are feeling alright?”, Bruce asked him for what must be the seventeenth time that day and he nodded, smiling, mouth full of cereal. “Because if you’re not, you know that-“

“I’ve got the Alfie-stamp.”, Jason said when he had finally swallowed down the bite. “Really, totally fine.”

“If you start feeling worse, you call.”, Bruce said, looking way too stern and serious and Jason tucked on his school uniform self-consciously. “Or have the nurse call. No matter when, okay?”

“Okay, jeez.”, Jason said, barely able to look at his newfound dad. “You need to calm down.”

After breakfast, he did have Alfred try and tame his hair (they were somewhat successful in their endeavour, but he felt like the butler was not entirely contempt with the outcome) and when he got into the car with Damian, he, for the first time, started to panic slightly, because what if he had already missed too much of class? He might fail every test and be kicked out! And then, surely, Bruce would have too… DISOWN him, or something, because surely it was not good for a big business guy like him to have a stupid kid.

He felt Damian’s look on him and tried to smile, but could not quite do it. It was really odd, because the other boy had avoided him like the plague whenever he was not dropping off his school stuff and Jason hated it – it felt wrong, not being on good terms with someone he was living with. Dick had told him that it was because Damian felt guilty for making him cry, but that seemed a bit too far-fetched for him.

He sighed, closing his eyes for a long moment when the huge school building came into view and immediately felt Alfred turn around slightly. “Everything alright, Master Jason?”

“Yeah.”, he muttered. “Just… nervous.”

“Oh? What about?”

Jason grimaced and pulled his school bag closer to his chest. “I’m- y’know, what if I can’t catch up?”, he rushed out then. “I was gone for a long time.”

“Two weeks is hardly a long time, Todd.”, Damian chimed in, and Jason turned to him in surprise, but the other boy was just staring at the cars that were driving past. “You will be alright.”

“Master Damian is correct, Sir.”, Alfred nodded, smiling slightly wider, and prouder, than Jason usually saw him do. “You definitely will be, my dear boy.”

Then, the car stopped at the drop-off-zone and both kids climbed out quickly in order not to hold up the line of vehicles behind them, waving a quick goodbye to Alfred before slamming the doors shut. Jason turned to Damian, wondering whether this could be their attempt at a new start, when he noticed that the other boy was already striding towards the ancient looking building. He ran slightly to catch up.

“Why are you following me?”, Damian hissed a few seconds later, when he noticed that Jason was tailing him. “We’re not friends.”

“We could be. I’m friends with Dick and Tim and Cass… and Alfie, I think.”, Jason replied.

Damian mumbled something about everything loving a good charity case, but it seemed like a win that the other boy was not directly being offensive to his face – the small victorys!

“Dick told me that you’re feeling bad about the other night, but it’s fine, really! It’s not your fault, you were just the one who slipped up and told me and-”

Damian stopped, his hands balling up and his breathing speeding up. “It was _not_ a slip up.”, he hissed. “I wanted to make you hurt, deliberately, because I hated you for the way things just seemed to work out for you – the way everyone gravitated towards you from day one on. I want that too, and I really despise you for it” Then, more quietly: “I would not feel guilty for a slip up.” And Damian looked a bit shocked after, probably for actually saying all of that out lout.

Jason also felt stunned – too stunned to reply for a moment and when he came to his senses, Damian was already lost in the growing crowd of children around him. It was crazy that the other boy really thought the things he just said about him – that he was jealous of him. That he saw Jason as an intruder. It was crazy, but it made a lot of things make a lot more sense.

The thing was, that he was not mad at Damian, because the other kid seemed to be just as scared of the manor as he was and Jason knew that lashing out was something people sometimes did when they were scared. It was good news, actually, because that meant that he could still make peace with Damian, given that the other boy did not really have a problem with him directly. He just had to make sure that Damian knew how much everyone wanted to spend time with him, but were too scared to invade his personal bubble, as Tim sometimes called it.

He could totally make that work! Easily!

He grinned slightly, enough to not make him look like an absolute psychopath, and tightened his hold on his backpacks staps before marching up to the schools’ entrance.

Then, to add to the good news, he noticed that he did not actually miss that much in English literature and Math, which were his first two subjects before lunch. It would not even really matter if he did, because the teacher cut him an astonishing amount of slack and seemed genuinely surprised at the fact that he completed all of the homework while sick.

Then, after the lessons, when he had already collected a decent-looking tray of lunch, he looked around for Damian. He noticed him not long after, sitting on a deserted table at the far end of the lunch room – Jason nodded to a boy from his science class that he had become somewhat friendly with, telling him to start eating without him, before marching up to Damian.

He looked surprised when he saw Jason, even if he did his best to cover it up. “What is it, Todd?”, he asked then, sounding exasperated, but not as cutting as he did a few weeks back, when Jason first tried to approach him at school.

“I’m… You don’t need to feel bad, yeah? Sometimes I say mean shit when I feel stressed, that’s- I think that’s normal.”, Jason started, quickly running through the dialogue that he had practiced in the past couple of hours. “But you’re… you’re wrong about me having something you don’t, cuz- because everyone… especially Bruce man… they so want you to be… I dunno, there, y’know? They just feel like they need to give you space, cuz you always act like you hate being around us all and… no one want’s to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Damian stared, eyes having become tiny slits of what Jason supposed must be anger, but it seemed to drain out of the other boy after a couple of tense seconds, making him let out a stutter sigh. “Don’t act like you know me, Todd.”, Damian said then, but it sounded weak and not like there was any real force behind the words.

Jason smiled at him, a bit awkwardly. “Okay.”, he replied, grasping his lunch tray a bit tighter. “Can I… Can I sit with you?”

Damian sighed again, long-sufferingly, but he did also make some space on the table. “If you must.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, some Jason-Damian-bonding... It is slow-going and I really hope that I can get the message across that Damian is not at all supposed to be the bad guy here - he is just misunderstood and scared and I am doing my best at slowly unraveling the layers here! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)


End file.
